“I feel like I’ve lived a hundred lives. With so much more to live!”

My guest for this episode of ‘Pause. And Rewind…’ has covered A LOT of ground in her career in a multitude of roles across various industries. Yet I know - and love - her as a champion of inclusion & community and the Co-Founder of Bērytī, a Lebanese restaurant in Barcelona that not only celebrates Lebanese culture but also Queer Arabs in the city, providing a safe space for community, great food & fun!

Cindy Nehme (she/her) was born in 1985 during the civil war in Lebanon. Yet despite, and because of this, she recalls a happy childhood & explains how her mother shielded her from the fear & pain going on around them. When Lebanon was under attack last year, she’d have video conversations with her parents who were in complete blackout with air strikes going on in the background. “We’ve been through this before,” they’d say to her. She has the utmost respect for their faith & their resilience.

Little Cindy, at 6 years old, would go out early in the morning & return in the evening after a full day of doing the rounds visiting her neighbours. Her love of community shone through back then & she’s brought that Lebanese spirit to Barcelona with her. During COVID-19, Cindy & her team at Bērytī rallied around to support their elderly neighbours with collecting shopping & medication, helping to keep them safe.

As a teenager, Cindy describes herself as a bit of a troublemaker & still, even this with the aim of protecting those around her in many cases. Realising her queerness came later for Cindy & she shares how the first bit of representation she saw of two women kissing on TV was the faux lesbian band t.a.T.u with the video to their 00’ tune ‘All The Things She Said’. Their album being something we both confess to still listening to occasionally!

We explore Cindy’s early career, including some of the failures that have shaped her the most, through to her journey to establishing the restaurant in Barcelona with her Co-Founder & friend, Pamela - who describes as ‘her parachute’ with Cindy being ‘the jumper’. With the support of an ‘army of women’, they wanted to create a home from home. They never originally set out to create such a cultural hub that celebrates their love of Arabic language, music & queerness but an organic shift led to where it is now. “We dream, love & feel in Arabic” she beautifully shares when talking about why it’s so important to provide the space that centres its roots.

What started with knocking on doors with invitations through to now, Bērytī has been embraced by its local community in Barcelona & it’s beautiful to hear. Seriously, if you’re in Barcelona, you gotta pop in to see Cindy & the team for some delicious food & a great atmosphere! We also dive into the importance of humour, gratitude & paying it forward - all on strong display throughout. Enjoy!

As always, some of the topics we cover are challenging so please take care of yourself whilst listening.