Art Beyond the Plate: Em Sherif Just Launched an Art Foundation and It’s Serving Culture with Every Course

You’ve always gone to Em Sherif for the feast, the rich flavors, the soulful ambiance, the unapologetic celebration of Lebanese heritage. But now? You’re going for the art, too. The iconic restaurant brand has officially launched the Em Sherif Art Foundation, a newly minted non-profit that’s flipping the script on how we experience culture, one mezze and masterpiece at a time.

Think of it as Lebanon’s creative energy, served globally. The Foundation, co-founded by Chef Mireille Hayek, CEO Dani Chakour, and curated by Sherif Hayek, is dedicated to spotlighting Lebanese artists in the most unexpected (and delicious) places: Em Sherif’s restaurants around the world. That’s right, alongside your signature dishes, you now get an Art Menu, showcasing rotating works from rising and established talents alike.

The idea came from Chakour’s deep-rooted love of contemporary art, a passion that grew into a private collection of over 600 works. Rather than keep that world private, the Em Sherif team decided to share it with the world. And so the Foundation was born; not as an afterthought, but as a bold new pillar of the Em Sherif experience.

Its global debut? Em Sherif Café Paris, where the Foundation premiered with the work of acclaimed Lebanese photographer Ziad Antar. His meditative pieces explore memory, impermanence, and the weight of place — themes that feel especially poignant viewed from the heart of Paris, a city where diaspora and heritage often collide.

“Art has always been part of my life,” says Sherif Hayek, the Foundation’s curator. “When my uncle Dani suggested creating the foundation, it felt like the perfect way to merge the creative world I’ve always loved with the family legacy we’ve built. Just as Em Sherif tells a story through food, the Foundation tells it through visual language — both are ways of sharing who we are.”

Now officially live and expanding across Em Sherif’s international outposts, the Em Sherif Art Foundation is here to champion Lebanese talent, fuel global conversations, and remind us that culture doesn’t just live in museums — sometimes, it lives between courses.

See more on emsherif-art.com

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About the artist

Ziad Antar at Em Sherif Café Paris
134 Boulevard Haussmann, 75008 Paris

Born in 1978 in Saida, Lebanon, Ziad Antar is a Beirut-based artist whose work explores the layered materiality of photography beyond its traditional documentary role. Known for his ironic yet direct approach, Antar’s practice interrogates memory, impermanence, and the unpredictability of image-making—often rooted in personal ties to place, culture, and history.

After an early workshop with Lebanese filmmakers Mahmoud Hojeij and Akram Zaatari, Antar pursued formal studies at the École Supérieure d’Études Cinématographiques in Paris, followed by a residency at the Palais de Tokyo and a post-diploma from the École des Beaux-Arts.

His work has been widely exhibited in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Rome, London, Beirut, and Athens, and is part of esteemed collections including the Centre Pompidou, The British Museum, Fondation Louis Vuitton, and Aishti Foundation.

Currently featured at Em Sherif Café Paris, Antar’s presence adds depth and dialogue to the intersection of Lebanese art and hospitality.

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