Abraham Phelan was born and raised in a small village just outside Jerusalem. In the late 1970s, Abraham opened his first restaurant in Crete, Greece, where he used everything fresh from the sea and land in his cooking. During his time in Crete, Abraham met an Irish girl and went with her to Dublin and got married. Abraham has had a few different restaurants over the years, but – since 2000 – he has taken over the restaurant space in the Chester Beatty Library and opened the Silk Road Cafe . All the food at the Silk Road Cafe is inspired by the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean. In 2007, the Cafe was awarded the Best World Cuisine Award by FOOD&WINE Magazine and, last year, it won the Gold Medal Award for best cafe / coffee shop from Hotel & Catering Review. In September 2009, Abraham opened an evening restaurant in Rathmines: Little Jerusalem. The emphasis in Little Jerusalem is on serving good, authentic Palestinian and Lebanese food in a homely and relaxed atmosphere. Besides the cafe and restaurant, Abraham also runs a catering company through the Silk Road Cafe. He caters for private parties in people’s homes; for large canape receptions for embassies in landmark buildings in Dublin, and for lunch buffets for conferences. Abraham’s next move will be a cook book that he has dreamt of writing for years. For the time being, you can download and try out some of his recipes - which he has supplied specially for Africa Day - by clicking on this link: Africa Day Recipes from the Silk Road Cafe.

Ok- this is definitely not a shot meant to compliment me...LOL Friends have an "Ass" book of all the ladies derriere's that pass through their cook off area (these silly Texans & their BBQ Contrests)..so I finally gave in and said they could add my rather, um, generous bottom to the photographic collection all in the name of Art...(remember folks-pictures add at least 10 lbs to you...that is my excuse and I am sticking to it:::CHUCKLE:::) I have been deliberating and have had this sitting in queue to post and well, I havent really shot anything since and need to post something.. Also, because I do not feel like printing it...they can download it from this site and throw darts at it for all i care (heck I might even help 'em)