In 1986, Chef Kamal Al-Faqih made his debut as the owner and head chef of the first exclusively Mediterranean catering company in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area (Med Catering, Inc.). Since that time, Chef Kamal's reputation for authentic and flavorful Lebanese cuisine has grown to be unmatched. During his twenty-year tenure as chef-owner of Med Catering, Inc., his authentic Lebanese dishes and signature classics were offered at events for Queen Noor of Jordan, King Abdulla of Jordan, Crown Prince Abdulla of Saudia Arabia, Senators George Mitchell and Barbara Mikulski, and celebrities such as Placido Domingo, Angelica Huston, and Francis Ford Coppola, as well as museums, White House events, and thousands of private parties and other events in Maryland, Virginia, and Washtngton, D.C. Born in the United States as the son of a diplomat, Chef Kamal received his formal culinary training at L'Academie de Cuisine under the instruction of Francois Dionot. Throughout his childhood, however, Kamal watched his mother and aunts prepare traditional regional dishes, providing him a natural authenticity and palate for Lebanese and Mediterranean cuisine.  From the early 1990s to the present, in addition to his professional catering business, Chef Kamal has led a variety of cooking demonstrations across North America. From Georgetown University and the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C., to dozens of private homes on the West Coast, Chef Kamal's charm and skills in the kitchen have introduced hundreds of individuals to heart-healthy and exotic Mediterranean foods for both formal entertaining and casual dining.  In 2005, Chef Kamal relocated to Southern California, where he has been writing, preparing, and testing the recipes that comprise Classic Lebanese Cuisine.