Named after The Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and founded by Hashem Montasser and Hany Bassiouny, The Lighthouse offers its customers a curated experience where they can eat, shop and socialize under one roof.
On a more personal note, Hashem’s mother, an English Literature professor at Cairo University, wrote her thesis on Virginia Woolf, author of the seminal novel To the Lighthouse. So The Lighthouse is, in many ways, a tribute to Dr. Malak Hashem and her generation of trailblazing women that stood tall as beacons of curiosity.
The name is therefore a subtle nod to Virginia Woolf and members of the Bloomsbury Group who gathered for conversation, companionship, and the refueling of creative energy. Hashem and Hany were inspired when they discovered that Woolf and fellow members gathered over “lingering breakfasts” and “painting lunches,” an indication of how central fresh, well-prepared dishes were to the way they socialized — and a principal tenet of The Lighthouse’s own food philosophy.
