Longtime Newmarket resident Costa Warwar has drawn from his Palestinian heritage for many years, serving food at his Toronto restaurant, the Flaming Stove.
Offering food like shawarma and falafel, the restaurant branded itself as Middle Eastern, but Warwar said he would share his heritage with anyone who asked. After years of running in Toronto, he opened a second location, also called Flaming Stove, closer to his home in Newmarket in 2022.
But when he found out this month both locations were categorized by food delivery service Uber Eats as Israeli, Warwar said he wanted to act.
"There are many things that make you who you are. I believe a part of it is where you come from, where you live, who you are in the sense of your food and your ancestry,” he said. “If you become someone who is not seen, someone who is disappearing because someone is not recognizing you are equal to the rest of the people — although you’ve been there for thousands of years … You need to fight the smallest things like a food category. It’s just sad, but it’s important.”
Alongside another Toronto-based Palestinian restaurant, Levant, Warwar pushed Uber Eats to change its categorization, documenting the effort on social media. Despite being initially rebuffed, the company relented and the restaurants reported it would be adding the category globally Jan. 14.
“As a Palestinian chef, the impact of the news is profound,” Levant said in a Dec. 23 Instagram post. “Palestinian cuisine will now prominently feature on global food platforms, allowing thousands of restaurants worldwide to showcase their identity.”
“We didn’t think it would change anything,” Warwar said. “Nothing changes fast for Palestinians anyhow … We were surprised they were co-operative.”
Warwar said he was fine with his restaurant getting categorized as Middle Eastern. But with the categories getting more specific, it was unfair not to recognize Palestinian restaurants, he said. Initially, Uber Eats customer service responded that they could not make a custom category of Palestinian cuisine for his restaurants.
“I would have been fine,” he said. “But since they have all the other ones (Middle Eastern categories), but they ignore particularly this one, that is a problem.”
Palestine and Israel have become more prominent in Canada in the wake of the conflict over the past several months, with Israel’s military campaign in Gaza in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
WarWar said he believes in peace and that life is precious, adding that there is a need for a ceasefire with the innocent families impacted by the war.
As for what this change with Uber Eats means for Canadian discourse on the matter, Warwar said it is a small win.
It will “boost the morale of people who are feeling oppressed,” he said. “I don’t think of it as a huge changing event in the course of the Canadian Palestinians, or any Canadian. But nevertheless, it’s small little steps that make you get somewhere.”
WarWar said he is proud to live in Newmarket. His newer restaurant branch has had success and allowed him to learn more about the community, he said.
“It was essentially dressed up and designed to welcome all kinds of people,” he said about his restaurants. “I do believe that is the greatness of being a Canadian. That we are all different, but we are all open at the same time."
