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A journey through Palestinian cooking
Albi, meaning “my heart” in Arabic, is about connection, to a place on the map, to an idea, to something inherited, and an expression of how those things shape who we become. For Chef Michael Rafidi, food has always been personal - a link to family and tradition. Albi grew out of exploring those connections, and coming to an understanding of how tradition both influences our story, and is influenced by our own stories.
Through his grandparents’ kitchen, cooking built a bridge between Chef Rafidi and his family’s roots in Ramallah, Palestine. In addition to which, those early years in the kitchen taught food as a language for expression and narrative. This idea - this storytelling - is at the heart of Albi’s journey. Our Sofra experience, a five-course, spontaneous exploration of Palestinian cooking is a dialogue between the guest and the restaurant. It reflects the kind of hospitality where meals aren’t chosen, they’re offered.
"If I were another on the road, I would not have looked back, I would have said what one traveler said to another: stranger! Awaken the guitar more! Delay our tomorrow so our road may extend and space may widen for us..."
At Albi, all of this centers around the hearth - both a tool and a link to the traditions of live-fire cooking, and is the center around which the kitchen and the restaurant revolve. Nearly every dish passes through it in some stage of their preparation. Dominating the kitchen and visible from everywhere in the restaurant, the hearth stands in representation of the Albi’s expression - a visible bond to the past, to heritage, and to tradition.
Albi’s cooking is built on a Palestinian foundation and developed through constant exploration. Chef Rafidi and his team use peak-season Mid-Atlantic ingredients - Maryland crab, sweet corn, embered rockfish, and all manner of local produce, applying techniques rooted in live fire, fermentation, and spice. Dinner flows like a meal in an Arabic household, driven by the spirit of hospitality - an exchange of ideas, and a stream of flavorful, colorful dishes. Each plate at Albi reflects our goal - to translate tradition into something specific, present, and entirely its own, to inspire conversation, and spark joy.
Also unique is Albi’s beverage program, which takes the same intuitive, expressive approach as the kitchen. Cocktails are introduced with poetic, often cheeky one-liners that give just enough to spark curiosity. The wine list, curated by William Simons, is built around tone and emotion rather than grape or region—grouped into categories like “Donnie Darko Reds,” “#UnapologeticallyClassicWhiteWines,” and a variety of mini-sections based on historical events, and movie titles. It’s designed to be explored, not decoded.
In addition to the stylistic sections, the list is anchored by sections dedicated to collections of Levantine wines. Producers from Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and the Eastern Mediterranean - offering a chance to explore the significance of the vine in the region’s culture and tradition.
A Brief Outline Of The Development Of Wine In The Eastern Mediterranean or
How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Passage Of Time
Interstellar clouds of ethanol, methanol, and vinyl ethanol (aka alcohol that judges you for listening to compressed audio files and using air pods) may have coalesced around dust & been picked up by passing comets - COMETS!!! - traveling the cosmos and in time possibly seeding the Earth with organic matter and the building blocks of life.
Around Wadi al-Natuf near Ramallah, the Natufian people develop a sedentary society and begin early stages of agriculture, engage in various types of fermentation
Two independent events take place domesticating the grapevine in modern day Georgia Armenia and in the Levant
Evidence of resinated wine in a mudbrick kitchen in Hajji Firuz Tepe
World’s oldest known winery is found in a cave in the Vayots Dzor region of Armenia
The Phoenicians, in what is now modern-day Lebanon, spread vines and winemaking knowledge throughout the Mediterranean - Egyptians of the time said the wine of Canaan was ‘more abundant than water’
Roman temple to Bacchus is erected at Heliopolis (Baalbek) in the Bekaa Valley
Anonymous author of “A Description of the World and It’s People” states “Ashkelon and Gaza export the best wine to all Syria and Egypt.”
Arak!!!
Ottoman rule more or less forbids wine production, but with loopholes
Cremisan Winery is established by Salesian monks in Beit Jala, Palestine
Serge Hochar’s first vintage as winemaker of Château Musar
At the start of Lebanon’s Civil War there are 6 wineries in the country
Number of wineries in Lebanon grows from 4 to nearly 80
Fadi Batarseh publishes his thesis on indigenous Palestinian grape varieties at the University of Udine (and Hebron)
Sari Khoury produces first vintage of Philokalia, Bethlehem
Since opening in 2020, Albi has continuously drawn local and national recognition - included in Best New Restaurant lists from Robb Report, Esquire, and Eater.
Named Eater DC's Restaurant of the Year in 2021, and in 2022, Albi earned its first Michelin star—a distinction it has proudly maintained in the years since. In 2024, Chef Michael Rafidi was honored with the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef, and Wine Director William Simons was named Sommelier of the Year by the Michelin Guide for Washington, DC. In 2025, Washingtonian recognized Albi as the Best Restaurant in D.C.
In 2025, Albi undertook a full renovation to reflect its evolution. The space and brand may have evolved, but the purpose remains the same. Palestinian cooking is intuitive, emotional, and alive – and so is Albi. We’re not working toward a fixed idea of success. We’re building something honest, plate by plate, evening after evening. Writing our own story driven not by external markers of accomplishment. Accolades are meaningful milestones - significant events in the story of a restaurant - but they’re not the story itself. They’re the result of telling one with intention and it’s a story we can’t wait to share with you, our guests.