Welcome to the new La Bodega blog!

Ten years ago, a group of us got together to create a new restaurant concept in Cairo. Between us, we shared a passion for great food and a clear vision of where we’d love to dine: we wanted to hang out at a ‘neighborhood’ restaurant where people of all ages could enjoy a delicious meal, or a drink, in surroundings that were beautiful yet friendly and undemanding. And when we couldn’t find this venue on the Cairo dining scene, we decided to create it ourselves.

So, in 2000, we set about establishing La Bodega: an elegant contemporary dining spot that wasn’t hidden away inside a five star hotel; a comfortable, easy venue that wasn’t part of a chain and didn’t serve fast food. At the time, we didn’t know if this new concept would appeal to anyone outside of our little crowd of friends. But, a decade on, and the story of La Bodega has taken on a life of its own, far surpassing any expectations we might have had back then.

Today, the La Bodega group includes two of Cairo’s best-known contemporary restaurants: The Bistro serves Mediterranean cuisine and Aperitivo offers a range of traditional Italian dishes. La Bodega is also home to some of Cairo’s best loved bars: these include Egypt’s first ever Milanese-style Aperitivo bar and The Lounge which, when it first opened, was the country’s very first lounge bar. Each of these venues is unique. But, together, they celebrate great food and the culture of dining in a way that is original, fresh and relevant to Cairo.

People often ask us about the secret to our success. Well, at La Bodega we pride ourselves on a very special secret ingredient: our community. Unlike many of our peers in Cairo, La Bodega enjoys a large and ever growing network of regulars. They have supported La Bodega over the years and they make our venue what it is today.

That is why we decided to launch this blog: it is for the La Bodega community and about it, and as far as we can tell, it’s the first restaurant blog of its kind in Egypt. We’re dedicating it to stories from our regulars and have invited many of you to contribute ‘guest posts’ on what La Bodega has meant to you over the years. During the next few months, writers, artists, photographers, business people, students and many others will be sharing with us their accounts of how La Bodega has featured in their lives.

We’ll also be using this blog to tell you about the things that we love: our favorite ingredients, the art that we admire, the amazing people and places that inspire us, every day, to continue doing what we do.

We hope you will share with us the things that inspire you too - because, like our restaurants, this blog won’t amount to much without your participation. So please share your thoughts and your content and help us take the unique La Bodega experience online.

Thank you!!!!

The La Bodega owners