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The Lighthouse Conversations with Hashem Montasser

The Lighthouse Conversations with Hashem Montasser

Written by: The Lighthouse
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About this listen

 Hashem Montasser, Founder of the The Lighthouse Restaurant & Concept Store in the UAE, is a raconteur who avidly follows the work of arts, culture, technology and, of course, food. In a series of conversations aimed at introducing its audience to the Middle East’s entrepreneurial landscape, Hashem asks his guests about their life journeys, inspirations, successes and failures and everything in-between.Copyright © The Lighthouse Art Economics Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte on the Soul of Space and Collectible Design​

    Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte on the Soul of Space and Collectible Design​
    Feb 16 2026
    “I really wanted to slow things down… to create an experience where people take their time, build relationships, and connect with design in a more human way.”​ Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte has spent fifteen years living out of a suitcase, experiencing the quiet palazzos of Venice as well as the bustling streets of Beirut. He sits down with Hashem to share how his way of life and thirst for travel have inspired Nomad, a design fair that trades the noise of transactional fairs for the soul found in historic architecture. ​ ​They dive into the intentional revival of Abu Dhabi’s Terminal 1 for Nomad's Middle Eastern debut, the cultural renaissance currently sweeping the Middle East, and why, in our digital-heavy world, we’re all just looking for a reason to put down our phones and experience real connections.
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    51 mins
  • “Going into a new market requires humility. You don’t know the market well, and you have to accept that.”

    “Going into a new market requires humility. You don’t know the market well, and you have to accept that.”
    Jan 12 2026
    In this year-in-review episode, Hashem looks back on 2025 and what it actually took to open two restaurants in Riyadh in one year.​ It’s a conversation about going up the learning curve fast, staying humble, and why consistency always outlasts hype.​​ Chapters: 0:00 Coming up... 6:13 Navigating Expansion into Saudi Arabia 10:01 Understanding Local Market Differences 13:44 The Impact of Social Media 21:19 The Role of Technology in F&B 25:12 Seeking Balance in a Digital World 35:43 What comes next? 39:19 Keith McNally's book
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    45 mins
  • “The day I stopped being a ‘Googler in Dubai’ and started being ‘Lynn, who happens to work at Google,’ everything changed.”​

    “The day I stopped being a ‘Googler in Dubai’ and started being ‘Lynn, who happens to work at Google,’ everything changed.”​
    Oct 17 2025
    Lynn Hazim, founder of Middle Child and creator of popular food blog @nosoupforyou, shares her journey from corporate life at Google to building her own restaurant in Dubai. The episode explores her early love for food, the roots of her inspiration, and her bold pivot to entrepreneurship. Lynn talks candidly about the challenges she faced funding the business and how she was determined to create a concept that felt true to herself. She shares how Middle Child in essence became the physical expression of her curiosity and creative restlessness.
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    43 mins
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