An Old World ambience and culinary fare is found in Edmond Oklahoma, in the confines of the Simply Falafel Restaurant, in that locale where Syrian immigrant Majid Assaleh , welcomes patrons on a daily basis where they savor the many Mediterranean dishes that are prepared under his direction. And on a recent warm Friday that ambience was enhanced as the restaretuer interacted with a customer, Reema Jawhari, who is also an immigrant from the Middle East, in their shared Arabic tongue, as Ms. Jawhari and a friend dined on fresh hummus topped with olive oil and Mediterranean salad and she told of how she had frequented the restaurant years ago when she lived in Edmond when her younger brother attended the University of Central Oklahoma that is located there. Both of them beamed as they spoke to one another and seemed to be remembering days past and shared friends. The woman and her male companion had begun their day by visiting the Social Security Administration Office in Oklahoma City to inquire about the benefits that she is currently receiving from that federal entity, and as they waited patiently for their number to be called to one of the numerous windows where officials assist them, Jawhari wistfully recalled her youth in her native Beirut, Lebanon, which was often described as the “Paris of the Middle East” where her father, who she now lives with along with her mother here, operated an upscale clothing store, that allowed the family to live a comfortable existence there and spoke French, English, and Arabic interchangeably. The social security beneficiary bears a marked resemblance to the widow of the late Russian dissident Alexi Novalny, and like Yulia Novalny, she has an aristocratic manner that often serves to endear her to those she encounters, which was displayed as she spoke warmly to a young African American child sitting close to her who had been verbally chastised by her father. The girl smiled broadly as a result of that interaction, and even her stern father warmed to her. She told her friend of her three grown children who are now leading successful adult lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, but laments the fact that her two now married sons have yet to have children of their own and that her daughter there has yet to marry. Her two brothers operate their own individual car dealerships in Oklahoma City, and she has a sister who formerly operated a clothing sales operation in the Middle East that brought her to the fashion shows of Paris and Milan, and is now waiting patiently to immigrate to the US to bring her skill set here. Despite her rather modest income from Social Security, Jawhari insisted on paying for the midday meal at Simply Falafel, and when her companion sought to surreptitiously hand the server a credit card to thwart her intention, she deftly grabbed and twisted his wrist and the credit card fell to the floor as a result. A similar will was made evident when Majid Assaleh, with characteristic graciousness, sought to reimburse her for the cost of the meal and she refused to take the money that he offered to her. As the meal ended the thoughtful Assaleh brought two individually wrapped pieces of baklava.
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Against the Grain 