Ruba Khoury

Palestinian chef and owner of Parisian bar Dirty Lemon, Ruba Khoury honed her craft in the now Michelin-star kitchens of Paris’ Septime, Frenchie and yam’Tcha, (each went on to win a Michelin star during her tenure — or shortly thereafter). Raised in Dubai, educated in upstate New York and schooled at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Ruba’s offering sees an easy, Mediterranean menu paired with fresh-pressed juice cocktails with names like Trophy Wife and Dyke-iri. Ruba opened her bar-and-plates address in Paris just shy of her 30th birthday, in response to a lack of safe, queer and lesbian-friendly bars in the city. Here, she promotes the female chefs-in-residence that stop by to work with Ruba, as well as providing a cultural space for queer art and music pop-ups.