LEBANON RESTAURANT
88 Washington Street between Rector and Morris Streets
AUGUST 12, 1936. ABBOTT FILE 161

In photographing the Syrian district, Abbott made one close-up of a storefront. The Lebanon Restaurant, opened in 1920, was typical of the many Washington Street Middle Eastern restaurants, featuring shish kebab, baklava, and thick Turkish coffee. Syrian immigrants, first arriving in New York in the 1880s, were successful merchants who quickly assimilated American culture. By the 1930s, their upwardly mobile progeny had moved to Brooklyn, returning for family gatherings and for traditional cuisine.

The trompe-l'oeil decorative border painted on the facade and the curvilinear stairway railings may have drawn Abbott to this storefront. She may also have delighted in the mixture of traditional and modern elements: the window displays of Turkish coffee cups and RCA Victor records, and the juxtaposition of Arabic calligraphy with a poster for a seven-course blue-plate special for $5.00.

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