From Syria onto your plate: Sally's story

With Dilbi, Sally has realised her dream: her own restaurant where she highlights the richness of Syrian cuisine. However, she did not take the easy way out.

Sally Ghannoum is a Syrian artist, singer, filmmaker and entrepreneur. This creative jack-of-all-trades fled her homeland with her husband Issam Youssef and son Andy in 2015. Issam is a poet and engineer. Together they found that they were more than a product of war and a culture full of sorrow. Syria has more to offer. Just think of its delicious cuisine and art scene. "The best way to preserve and share our identity with our beautiful second home in Belgium is to not give up those two things." So says Sally.

With this in mind, Sally and Issam set up their first restaurant in Belgium. The loan for this they had gathered together with some friends. The restaurant soon became well-known, but no income was forthcoming. Due to a lack of experience in a work system in a new country, little equity and an accountant who did not do his job properly, the turnover stagnated.

Sally and Issam did not give up and opened a new restaurant a year and a half later. This time at a very good location. Their dream came true: a real Syrian home. With the support of MicroStart for the loan and an excellent follow-up of coach Paul Lippeveld - who still supports them to this day - their enterprise became a real success this time. In fact, a second business was even opened during corona.