Inside Chef Paul Farag’s Egyptian Homecoming at Sachi Park St.

The tables have been set, re-set, and re-imagined; the talking is (mostly) over; all that awaited Egypt’s annual culinary gathering at Cairo Food Week 2026 was to now let the food speak for itself. This was the spirit at Sachi Park St. ahead of the first of many chef takeovers in a ten-day programme that began first with intimate reflection, followed by monumental imagining in the form of ‘Tables of Egypt’ at the Grand Egyptian Museum, and then precise examination at Tamara Haus for ‘Architecture of Taste’ and Kook Zamalek for ‘CFW Conversations Season 2’.

Overlooking Cairo’s western fringes with views mediated by a nearly-full moon, Sachi Park St. and Baky Hospitality hosted Chef Paul Farag of Sydney’s AALIA for a homecoming that was—in many ways—long overdue.Born in Australia to Egyptian parents, Chef Farag once tried to avoid Middle Eastern cuisine at all costs. From a 15 year-old who dropped out of school to pursue the world that exists behind the kitchen, his career took him from Sydney to London and back again, turning him into a Head Chef at just 23 years old and earning him countless accolades along the way, including being named Chef of the Year by the Good Food Guide in 2025.

But it was only in 2020 that Chef Farag began embracing his Middle Eastern culinary heritage, when he was appointed Executive Chef at a Lebanese and Middle Eastern restaurant in Surry Hills named NOUR. Then, in 2022, as the Executive Chef at ESCA, Chef Farag fully realized his vision with the opening of his flagship restaurant, AALIA. This was a fine-dining space dedicated to showcasing the depth of Middle Eastern and North African cuisine, and Chef Farag’s renewed appetite for his Egyptian heritage was at the heart of it. As a result, Cairo Food Week meant more than just a little to him.

“This has been an extremely emotional thing for me, to come to Egypt and cook in my parent’s homeland,” Chef Farag told SceneEats. “It’s something that I can’t put into words.”

With Baky Hospitality’s Executive Chef Ali Ghadban, the pair prepared for months for a night steeped in family recipes, rituals, and memory. For his part, Chef Paul Farag wanted to create “one cohesive menu showcasing the best of Australia and Egypt in one shot.”

Experimental is a term used to describe many things in the culinary scene. When Chef Farag spoke to us before the dinner, he was very straightforward about what he was doing: “I’m looking forward to seeing the reaction, because these tastes aren’t going to be anything they’ve ever experienced before in their life.”

This wasn’t just experimentation, it was a much-awaited dinner packing one of Egypt’s finest restaurants to the brim being given the treatment of a loving, late-night kitchen getaway with a spouse or a sibling—executed to the highest of standards.

Preluded with canapés that included Australian wagyu beef tartare, pickled zucchini flower, and buffalo labneh, the seven-course meal introduced guests gently to what Chef Farag had in store for them. Then the courses really began, and so did the rollercoaster.One after the other, guests gorged themselves on Chef Paul Farag’s wonderous fusion of decades of Australian living and millennia of Egyptian blood. The plates were like the scene of a wedding, fusing together not only two sets of ingredients but two sides of Chef Farag’s very existence. Waraq simsim, rolled up just the moment before eating, shared its green embrace with ritsa reminiscent of Alexandria’s blue shores. Oscietre Prestige Caviar by Kaviari Paris bequeathed its royal pedigree to green tomatoes and macadamia cream; Australia’s murray cod with tamarind and turmeric; lamb neck with molokhia and shatta.

Then, course five arrived, created with kangaroo tail from the Shire of Paroo, fava bean, and rose harissa. This was, it became clear to all, experimentation at the grandest levels, and yet Chef Paul Farag was just having fun with it—and so was everyone else.

As Cairo Food Week prepares for more intimate chef takeovers across Cairo east, west, and central, allowing international chefs to enter Cairo’s best kitchens and work with local teams and ingredients to create new meanings around food, stay tuned to SceneEats for more exclusive coverage.