Three generations, one long table.

Imad and Marwa Makool crossed the sea from Lebanon in the seventies with little more than a suitcase of recipes and a love of feeding people.

In 1998 they opened a tiny café with a small grocer on the side and just one table. Imad ran the coffee machine, and Marwa called out a hello to everyone who walked through the door from her spot in the kitchen. People came in for bread or a coffee and stayed for a chat. Strangers shared that one table, and more often than not left as friends.

That table has grown a lot since then. It now stretches across Murrumbeena and Fairfield, but the way we cook hasn't changed. Olive oil, za'atar and flatbread are still measured by hand, the way Imad and Marwa taught us. And there's still a Makool in the kitchen most mornings, tasting, adjusting, and making sure it's right.

Pull up a chair. There's always room for one more.