Old Damascus Fare

03/28/2022

BIG UPDATE!!!!!! 🚨📢

As you all know, Covid hit the food industry very badly. We tried to bring back our business back to life recently, but unfortunately, our attempts didn't work out. Soooo, we're starting fresh again, and we are opening a small coffee shop in North Oakland. We would love your support in this challenging time in spreading the word with your community about our new (soon-to-open) small family business. We ask you kindly to please spread the word as much as possible, share our page and upcoming content, and come to say hi & grab a cup of coffee.
We would love to see you soon at .coffee! 🤍

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Stay tuned and don't forget to follow .coffee for more upcoming information and updates on the opening date! :)

04/25/2020

Ramadan Mubarak from our family to yours! 🤗🥰🌙
We miss sharing our cuisine with you all, but we hope that you are staying safe and healthy. 🙌🏻
What is your favorite Ramadan dish? 😋

11/25/2019

Our beautiful table made it to The New York Times paper today. Check out the report by Christine Muhlke about great six stories from around the US. 😍

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/25/dining/thanksgiving-table-decor.html

We asked holiday hosts around the country to show us how they serve the feast.

11/14/2019

What happens when you ask ODF's chefs to show you their artistic skills? 🤔
Well, this tasty flower bouquet is what happened using delicious fried Kibbeh (stuffed with lamb and almonds🤤) with a little hint of vegetables. Oops! 🤪😋

11/02/2019

WOW, we are truly amazed by the big amount of love and support that you all showed us yesterday in securing our Kiva loan! 🥺🤩

Opening a new restaurant in the Bay Area is one of the most challenging tasks to accomplish these days, but your support is our inspiration.

Thank you for being an amazing community and for making Berkeley become a "home" for us! 🙌🏻🥰❤️

We will keep you posted on our adventure and our next steps.. 👌🏻

11/01/2019

⚠️**IMPORTANT COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT:**⚠️📢

Dear Community,

We are happy to announce that our small family business, Old Damascus Fare (ODF) was recently accepted to receive a 0% interest loan from Kiva. Kiva is the first and largest micro-lending service in the world that has distributed one billion dollars over the last 10 years, in 86 different countries and among 1.5 million small businesses.

We are currently in a private fundraising period, during which we have ONLY 4 DAYS to get at least 25 lenders in order to make it on the public platform where anyone on Kiva can find our business information and support our endeavours financially.
We want to ask you to lend as little as $25 so that we can make our way to the public fundraising period.
YOUR SUPPORT IS A LOAN AND WILL BE RETURNED TO YOU!

If you would like to support us, please follow this link to make an account and make a payment. This is the only way your loan will be tracked. We only have 4 days (Yes, that's correct: ONLY 4 DAYS!!😱) to make it through the public fundraiser period. Better yet, tag, DM, and email this to your friends and network who would be willing to support us as well.

We are forever grateful for your generosity and support to get us to where we are today in only 1.5 years. Now we are ready to take the next big step! 😍😊🎉
Please do not hesitate to ask us questions or share your concerns,

ODF Family 👪

https://www.kiva.org/lend/1828056

A loan of $7,500 helps a Kiva loan will help me expand my business by purchasing my own restaurant. The restaurant will support my family's growth and help my kids achieve their educational goals once the company grow and expand in the Bay Area.

09/21/2019

Join us this weekend for lots of unique food and quality time at .

Where: Jack London Square in Oakland.
Fun fact: no tickets required. The event is FREE...!!!! 😍
So, tag a friend and tell them to join you in this Foodie adventure 😎😋👌🏻

05/22/2019

Join us this weekend at and falafel in love all over again 😍😋.
Tickets online ($4) at TreasureFest.com or buy ‘em at the door for $7!
⏰ May 25 + 26, 10-4pm

05/04/2019

Meet us at the crossroads of book lovers and acclaimed authors at the Bay Area Book Festival THIS weekend, May 4-5 in downtown Berkeley.
We cant wait to participate and feed the stomachs of hungry minds! 📚📖🤓😋
More info at http://www.baybookfest.org/
San Francisco Chronicle

05/02/2019

Join us on May 12 as we partner up with Slow Food East Bay, serve our finest Syrian dishes, and discuss the impact food has on bridging us to cultures different from our own. 🌎🤝

Tickets can be found in the Facebook event below.👇👇

04/26/2019

We invite you to bring 👋 in spring 🌸 with some zing💥 and visit us at this weekend, April 27 + 28th!
Tickets are $4 online (free parking included!) at TreasureFest.com. ..Your falafel plate awaits. 😋

https://www.facebook.com/events/2249673918634067

04/22/2019

Missed us at TreasureFest last month? No fear. We will be back and better than ever THIS weekend, all weekend, serving up our finest Syrian specialties.
⏰: April 27 - 28

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04/16/2019

“Pass the pita, please...” 😍
Pair our pita with our palatable Hummus and Mutabbal plates, and we promise you’ll be ‘pleasing’ for plenty more. 😋
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03/30/2019

Thanks so much for the highlight, Refugee Food Festival. ✨
We’re excited to collaborate with you in the future!!! 🤗😋

☀️ PORTRAIT OF THE WEEK ☀️
🇸🇾 Meet Syrian chef Rawaa Kasedah, founder of her own catering service Old Damascus Fare, who will be behind stoves this weekend for the monthly food festival TreasureFest 🍴 She will also host a unique dinner with Slow Food East Bay, stay tuned!
📍RFF San Francisco in 2018 at a private event co-hosted by WeWork & Feastly
🍴 Her speciality? Kebbes, delicious stuffed bulgur bites
👉🏽 Discover her full story here: bit.ly/2U1z9s5

03/29/2019

Kick off the springtime with friends, fun 🎉, and falafel 😋 and join us this weekend at on March 30th + 31st on Treasure Island.

Tickets are $4 online & include free parking! Get your ticket here: TreasureFest.com.
We cant wait to see you there!! 🤩

https://www.facebook.com/events/treasurefest/treasurefest/2249673918634067/

03/11/2019

Dessert anyone? I think we pistachi-know the answer, (war)bat thought we’d ask anyway 😋👌

03/06/2019

Flashback to last night! ✨🤩
Yesterday, we partnered with Top Chef, as part of “Week of Women in Food” (led by ). What an absolute delight to serve our favorite dishes aside such talent. 💕😋
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📸 🍽 “Ful Medames”: a fava bean salad, commonly eaten for breakfast, made with fresh tomatoes, olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, and tahini. 😍

02/23/2019

"The story of Kasedah and Rawas’ Old Damascus Fare, the Bay Area’s only dedicated Syrian restaurant, is an older American tale: how coming to this country means making do. And how the making do remakes us."

We're thrilled to share that the story of ODF's beginnings has been published in the SF Chronicle! Have a read!! 😀

Little in Rawaa Kasedah and Mohammed Aref Rawas’ first four decades of life could have predicted that they’d find themselves manning their own food stand in the UC Berkeley Student Union at lunchtime on a Monday, Kasedah rolling chicken shawarma in paper-thin flatbread, her husband dashing from ...

02/21/2019

Plans this weekend? Visit us at TREASURE FEST 🎉 both 2/23-2/24 in Treasure Island, SF. We will be joining a variety of Bay-based vendors and proudly serving up our fine Syrian cuisine. 😋

02/06/2019

We'll be participating in this year’s "Week of Women in Food" which is a celebration of women in the food industry in the Bay Area lead by .
Join us on Tuesday, March 5 at 6:30 pm on the campus with an exciting collaboration to be announced soon! 😁😋
(link for tickets is in the first comment)
See you there! 😉

01/23/2019

Starting today, we are back on campus and are looking for a great second semester at Cal with our wonderful Berkeley community!!! 😍🎉

Come by and get a 50% OFF a drink with a purchase of any meal for this week. 😋

Don't forget to tag your friends who enjoy middle eastern food and drinks! 😉

Welcome back bears! 🐻💚

01/02/2019

Let "more food parties 😋🥳🎉" be included in your new year's resolutions.
HAPPY NEW YEAR! 🎀✨
#2019

11/28/2018

🚨Starting today, our homemade Baba-ganoush and hummus plates will be served at 1951 Coffee Company at the ASUC Student Union.🚨

Swing by the café today for a free sample of each! 😃

Did you know that Babaganoush in the middle east is different than what is popular here in the US?😱

Yes, our Syrian style Babaganoush is made of Grilled eggplant mixed with walnut, red pepper, garlic, parsley, olive oil, and pomegranate molasses. 😋

Try our traditional style appetizers and let us know how you like them!
Don't miss out! 😉

@ MLK student union

11/23/2018

Something we are thankful for this year???!!
Our new awesome Bay Area friends & communities, and the opportunity of sharing our culture through our cuisines. 🙏🏻😍
Hope you all are enjoying your time with loved ones and eating lots of food! 😋
Our shop will reopen on Monday, Nov. 26.
Happy ! 😊❤️️

11/05/2018

The story behind Old Damascus Fare is UP online one more time. CHECK IT OUT! 😊😃

Thank you The Mercury News for the highlight! 😍

chefsofinstagram

Three years after arriving in the U.S., this family is running a budding catering business and has hired their first employee.

10/26/2018

Last week we had the honor of meeting David Miliband, the CEO and the president of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and having him trying our food, too.😍

His recommendation? The Falafel!
Make sure you stop by our shop and try it, too! 🤯😋


@ MLK student union

10/17/2018

We just had our logo installed for our shop at the ASUC Student Union.

Thank you Landmark Grafix for such a wonderful work. 😍🙏🏻

10/04/2018

Join us for the SF Street Food Festival on Saturday, October 13 from 11 am - 7 pm, to try some of the best food in the Bay Area provided by over 40 local businesses. 😍😋

Where?? > At the Potrero Power Station!

Kids under 5 are FREE, and entry is $6.

TICKETS AND MORE INFO AVAILABLE IN BIO! 🙂

09/12/2018

Our hours of operations have extended at our ASUC Student Union shop! 😍

New hours:
Monday - Friday
11:00 am - 7:30 pm

Looking forward to seeing you there! ☺️

09/11/2018

You will ONLY find this delicious, spiced chicken wrap served in the Syrian style in the bay area at our shop at ASUC Student Union of UC Berkeley.

Come visit us for a unique, new experience of the Middle Eastern cuisines.