Salam Daqqaq, the chef and founder of Bait Maryam, always says: “Bait Maryam is a place where people can come and feel at home, no matter where they are from.” And she does make that happen. Even from the very first photos of the restaurant, or the very first picture of Salam herself, you feel it — you just want to be there, to eat there. And you can’t quite explain how she pulls it off.

Bait Maryam is known for Levantine dishes cooked with love. It is also known for its four Michelin Bib Gourmand awards. Impressive, of course. But what is even more impressive is that it is known for Salam herself. She is not just a chef — she is a mother. To her children, to her team, and to her guests.

The restaurant is named after Salam’s own mother, Maryam. The dishes you will taste at Bait Maryam are the same ones Maryam once cooked, with Salam by her side, helping. I wanted to dive deeper into this family’s story — and their recipes — so I sat down with Salam’s daughter, Nada, and later with Salam herself.

— Nada, so Bait Maryam is named after Salam’s mother, Maryam, a legend. Do you remember any stories Salam told you about her mom, about your grandmother? What was she like?

— A lot of them! Maryam was known in the village as the woman with the best food. For example, her neighbours would come by and ask her for just a glass of water. She would laugh and say, “Why? It’s the same water.” But they insisted: “No, the flavour in your house is different.” Even the water seemed special when it came from her. People spoke about her almost like she was a saint when it came to food.

My mom is the youngest sibling, so she spent the most time with her. It was often just the three of them, my grandmother, my grandfather, and my mom. And whenever someone passed by, my grandmother would say, “Oh, come in, I’ll put a plate for you, take it.” Food was her way of giving, her way of showing love.

— Was it really more delicious, or was it the atmosphere Maryam created that made it special? What was it?

— It is the soul. It plays a huge role. For example, I could give you the same recipe with the exact same measurements, you would cook it, I would cook it, and somehow it would taste different. We truly believe it is because of the energy you put into the food. It is not just ingredients thrown together; it is love, it is soul.

If you are sad and you try to make a dish, it won’t come out right. My mom used to notice that. If someone from her staff wasn’t feeling their best, she would tell them, “Go rest, drink some water, come back with different energy.” Because the food needed not just hands, but heart.

— Was there any piece of advice from Maryam that Salam still carries with her?

— Maryam always used to say: “If you want to do something, do it with love. Once you give it love, it gives back.” If you believe in something and truly love it, go for it. That was always in her mind — and that is why Salam opened the restaurant. She loves feeding people, and she pours her heart into it.

That is why Bait Maryam is still what it is today. Eight years later, my mom is still in the kitchen cooking. She is 63 now! When she started the business, she was already 53. It is not exactly a young age to begin, especially in F&B, one of the most hectic industries out there. Feeding people is basically a 24-hour operation. But she loves it, and she believes in it, and that is what keeps her going.

— As Salam’s daughter, how do you remember her before Bait Maryam happened?

— Always cooking. For everyone.

We are a family of five, but somehow, during Ramadan, we would always have at least 15 people at the table. That is just how it was.

My mom would wake up in the morning and start cooking. She never really knew what she was going to make; she just started. We would ask, “Mom, what are you cooking?” and she would say, “I’m cooking.” That was it. And the thing is, I would run into people outside who didn’t have their families here. For us, Ramadan isn’t just about the food; it is about sharing the meal. So my siblings and I would invite them. We just didn’t want them to spend Ramadan on their own.

She never worried about how much food she made. It was always enough for anyone. We would sit, eat, and then stay up late playing cards. Before dawn, we would eat sohoor with the same food she had cooked. Then the next day, she would start again, always creating new dishes.

If you ask her, she will tell you, cooking is her therapy.

— And she decided to open Bait Maryam when she was about 53, right? I remember that story. One night, she woke her husband up and told him she needed to open her own restaurant. Was it really like that?

— Yes, exactly. We were older then, my sister was living in the States, my brother too, and my mom suddenly didn’t have much to do. When we moved to Dubai, she didn’t like it at first. My mom is a very social person, and moving somewhere new at an older age makes it so much harder to meet people. She felt lost, like, what am I going to do now?

So she started travelling. Every month, she would be in a new country, and we even called her Ibn Battuta. She would go, learn the culture, study the food and spices, come back, unpack her bag, and the next month she would already be packing for her next trip.

At some point, my father suggested, Why don’t you join me in the company, be in HR? She tried, but she didn’t enjoy it. And we, her kids, kept pushing her: Now it’s your time. Do something you truly love. She kept thinking about it until one morning she just woke up, shook my father, and said: I need to open a restaurant.

At first, he was against it. But she said, "I’m done with travelling. I want my own restaurant."

Then she came to me, and I was working in PR at the time. She said, "I want you to leave your job and open it with me." I hesitated. But she kept insisting. So I left my job, and we started.

Everything happened so smoothly, the very same day she decided, we found a place, signed for it, and even found the right people to help us. It felt like God was telling us: go with it.

— What is Salam like in the kitchen?

— She is a mother.

In the kitchen, everyone treats her like their own mom. They even call her Mama. They love her and look after her, just the same way she cares for them. That is the atmosphere at Bait Maryam.

When we first started, we had around 11 employees. Today, we are 160. And many of the people who started with us on day one are still here eight years later. They get offers from other restaurants, even with higher salaries, but they choose to stay. Because, as they say, this is the first time they have felt like they are part of a family, not just a business.

We make sure that if anyone from the team has an issue, they can come to us, talk to us, and we will help, whether it is emotional, financial, or anything else. I swear, there was a time when the world lost that kind of connection. Everything became about technology. But we are not like that. We are dealing with humans, not robots or ChatGPT or whatever. And humans, we have emotions, we have personal struggles, things happening at home or even in our country. What people need is real support. And once you give them that support, they will never forget it.

— Is it true that in Bait Maryam, you still use old techniques?

— Yes. If you go to Arabic restaurants around the world, you won’t find the same food we serve at Bait Maryam. Why? Because of the techniques my mom uses, they are straight from the old days. No shortcuts, no machines, nothing to make life “easier.” She believes your hands have to feel the food.

Take something as simple as French fries. Everyone has them, right? But in our restaurant, we have someone whose only job is to cut the fries, because my mom refuses frozen food. Same with parsley, we use a lot of it, especially for dishes like tabbouleh, and we even have a guy who just cuts parsley the way her mother used to. It is these details, these traditions, that make the difference.

Everything is fresh, everything is healthy, and nothing carries over to the next day. Ingredients come in every morning, and we cook from scratch. That is why it doesn’t feel like a commercial place. Even our food costs are higher, around 28%, compared to most restaurants, but that is because of the quality. We are still using the same suppliers we used at home.

— Some dishes on the menu carry Maryam’s name. Could you tell me more about them? Let’s start with Maryam’s Tray.

— Maryam’s Tray was basically my mom’s breakfast ritual. When she woke up, she would always have a plate of labneh, a plate of za’atar, some jam, and a few other things. The idea was simple: take bread, and choose whatever you feel like. That was Maryam’s Tray, and it is exactly what my mom used to eat for breakfast.

Then there is Maryam’s Salad, one Maryam actually invented herself. She loved rocca, she loved beetroot, and she loved anything with yoghurt. Normally, yoghurt isn’t the main dressing for a salad, but she put it together anyway, and it worked. It tasted amazing, and today it is one of our best sellers.

And of course, Fatet Maryam Musakhan, the big flatbread layered with onions, sumac, and chicken. Maryam used to cook musakhan one day, and then the next day she would reinvent the leftovers into a new dish so her kids wouldn’t get bored. She would crisp up the bread, shred the chicken off the bone, mix it with onions and yoghurt, and suddenly it became something new.

— Are all these recipes in Salam's head?

— In the beginning, it was all just there. It was actually really hard for us to systemise the restaurant, because for the first two years, we didn’t even have a recipe book. Nothing written down. We were just working day by day, making sure the customers were happy.

But after two years, I realised this wasn’t sustainable. We need structure: a cookbook, a clear way of doing things, proper operations. That is when we finally started to build the cookbook.

It wasn’t easy, though! You know, if you asked Salam about adding cumin, she would say: “Just a little.” I would go, “What’s a little?” And she would answer, “Measure with your heart.” Which is beautiful, but I also needed some clarity. So it took us about two years to actually turn her way of cooking into a real cookbook.

— I am also really amazed by the design of Bait Maryam. I feel this real sense of home. Did you bring in anything from your own house, or from Maryam’s house, into the design?

— Oh yes, there are a lot of details. When Maryam passed away, my mom held on to many of her belongings. One of them was the old sewing machine. Maryam always used to say, “I don’t want to buy clothes from outside, I want to make something unique for you.” She sewed all the clothes for my mother and her siblings.

Another thing she kept is a bowl from our home in Palestine, a deep dish used to prepare kibbeh nayyeh. Maryam would place the meat inside and pound it again and again until it became soft and smooth.

There are also Maryam’s curtains, and part of her marriage collection, delicate cups and dishes, including a “Romeo and Juliet” set that she treasured deeply. All of these pieces now live in Bait Maryam.

The design is inspired by Maryam’s home. On the very first day we got the place, my mom walked in and immediately imagined it: “The couch will go here, the curtains there.” She saw it all in her mind without needing a designer. And by the way, my mom is an artist herself; she draws, she paints, so for her, it was natural to make the restaurant feel like her mother’s home.

— You have also recently opened a new place, Sufret Maryam. Can you tell me more about it?

— So, Bait Maryam is the bridge between Maryam and my mother. It is about the way they used to cook, the recipes, the traditions, the spirit of it all. The location even adds to that feeling: there is a lake right next to it, so when you are there, it feels like you are in a village.

Sufret Maryam, on the other hand, is in the city. It is bigger, more spacious, and for me, it represents the connection between me and my mom, a different generation, different techniques. As you grow, you learn new ways of doing things, but the flavours remain the same. So when you eat there, you still feel the authenticity of the dish, even if it looks a little different.

— So, the Michelin Award in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. That is huge. For any chef, it is a dream. And I am sure you didn’t expect it or prepare for it, you were just doing your own thing.

— Honestly, we were shocked. It was during the COVID pandemic that I first received the email from Michelin. I thought, What is happening? Why are they even inviting us? I sent it to my mom with the message: Are you ready for a surprise? Her first reaction was, Are you pregnant? I laughed and said, No! I just got an email from Michelin. And she was like, Why? What do they want from us? She honestly had no idea why they were inviting her.

Neither of us knew much about the process; it was Michelin’s first year in Dubai, and we didn’t know what to expect. But we decided to go. My mom was so stressed in the days leading up to the event that she actually lost her voice. We never thought anyone would look at our food that way. We were just doing our thing, in our own small way.

Then the awards night came. The first recognition we received was Bib Gourmand. And then, something completely unexpected, Michelin introduced, for the very first time, a star for Welcome and Service. They said, "When we met Chef Salam at Bait Maryam, we realised we had to create something unique just for her."

When my mom went up on stage, she was completely overwhelmed. She didn’t know what to say. She just cried and prayed. It was such an emotional day, one we will never forget.

Oh, by the way, she will join us now!

— Hi Salam! Nada said you were in the kitchen. What were you cooking? What did you make there?

Salam: Let me tell you! I started with chicken and batata. Then zucchini stuffed with rice in tomato sauce, with lamb neck on the side. After that, I made hindbeh. Then, spinach for the dough. I prepared the dough, let it rest. Then, I made rice with vermicelli.

Nada: And she has the flu.

Salam: Yes, but I am fine and full of energy.

— Salam, please take care of yourself! Nada once shared a story about how neighbours would come to Maryam and ask for her water, saying it tasted better in her house. Do you maybe have a similar memory to share, something special about your mom?

Salam: Cookies. Yeah, Mama used to make cookies every single night. A big batch. I remember asking her, Why so much, every night? And she always told me, “For the people.”

In the mornings, when we woke up, I swear she would portion them carefully and keep some for us, always fresh. And then the next night, she would make them all over again. But the truth is, we didn’t realise until after she passed what it really meant.

When she died, the streets were full of people, like when someone from the military passes, and the whole road is closed. I asked my sister, Who are all these people? Where did they come from? And she said, “They’re the people Mama gave cookies to.” Strangers to us, but not to her. We never knew.

Even after we all grew up and got married, Mama stayed at home with my father, and still cooked as if she were feeding an entire town. Anyone who stopped by would be welcome to eat. That was just her way: no one ever left hungry.

She was always quiet, clean, and elegant. Even in the kitchen, she looked presentable, always neat. And she cooked with love, prepared everything with love. She was happy when she cooked. That is rare, you know? She didn’t cook just to feed us. She cooked because she enjoyed it, because it brought her joy. And she always reminded us: enjoy your meal, don’t rush.

— Okay, girls. What is next?

Salam: Bait Maryam at Mirdif City Centre. Then, something is going to happen in Abu Dhabi next year. Who knows, maybe even somewhere else in the world.