Cairo Food Week 2026 Opens With Nod to Past, New Vision for Future

Every year, Cairo Food Week congregates everyone with a stake to claim in Egypt’s burgeoning culinary scene for an opening night that is, in many ways, a feast fit for kings. This year, they’ve started things off a little differently. Around candlelight and intimate conversation at TLT Ivory Park, the ten-day programme began with a private dinner of all the partners who have backed Cairo Food Week since its inception.

For Flavor Republic Ventures, the brains behind Cairo Food Week, this gathering was not just about honouring and celebrating how far Cairo’s annual culinary landmark has come, but about regrouping, reorienting, and setting the stage for all that they want to achieve in the coming years. And as they examined what most needed building, one word rang out with undeniable weight: sustainability.

The need to pivot towards a more sustainable culinary industry in Egypt can take many shapes. Echoing across the table were new ideas for zero-waste culinary experiences, conversations around everything from the sourcing of raw materials to the techniques inside the kitchen were carried out with the most sustainable practices, and how to be inclusive of next-gen ventures like Cairo Food Week’s aquaponics partner, NatureWorks.At the same time, the call for sustainability was also about ensuring that the rest of the culinary landscape—the farmers and producers, the everyday consumers—in Egypt get to grow together. The intention is clear: it’s no longer enough to just claim Egypt’s stake on the global culinary map, every Egyptian must be a part of that claim too.

This is a conversation that has been developing for years, including by Flavor Republic Venture’s own co-founders Hoda El-Sherif and Sherif Tamim, and TLT’s Chef Mirette Aly. In 2026, Cairo Food Week forefronts it.
These discussions unfolded as Chef Youssef Eid, the founder of high-end catering concept Blankusta, led the menu for the more than 70 guests in attendance. Chef Youssef Eid previously served in Chef Mirette Aly’s kitchen at The Lemon Tree. Today, he joined forces with her again to lead the first dinner of many more to come at Cairo Food Week, while afterwards a cocktail party simmered and then bubbled over with dashes and hints of all else that’s to come.
In the coming ten days, Cairo Food Week will serve a packed programme all across Cairo, from pop-up museum ‘Tables of Egypt’ at the Grand Egyptian Museum to an all-day live podcast at KOOK Zamalek, elaborate culinary exhibition ‘Architecture of Taste’ at Downtown’s Tamara Haus, and international chef takeovers all across east, west, and central Cairo. These include Michelin-starred Venissa’s Chef Fransesco Brutto’s takeover of Mazeej, Chef Gabriella Chamorro’s Central American spin on Izakaya, and Australian Chef Paul Farag’s night of shared memory and ritual at Sachi Park St.Stay tuned to SceneEats for more exclusive news and coverage of the fourth edition of Cairo Food Week by Flavor Republic.