Dear Friends,

Thank you for being a part of the Pomegranate Mediterranean Cuisine experience. We are Tim and Amal Doom, the owners of the Pomegranate. If you have been to our restaurant, you have probably seen us around. You see, it's extremely important to us that your dining experience meets every standard that we would expect for ourselves. Every dish on our menu has been created from scratch and approved through our stubborn palates. Some dishes you might try are the results of eight or ten test dishes which we have tweaking and tested over and over to bring you the best quality dish we can offer. Each weekend we will present you with original specials created by our talented chefs. It is our vision to break the common perception of what it means to be a "Mediterranean" restaurant.  As you might have experienced, most "Mediterranean" restaurants are either Greek or Arab. While those are two wonderfully unique culinary cultures, we feel that focusing on two countries out of 21 that border the Mediterranean is a bit narrow. That is why we strive to bring you a true taste of the Mediterranean, a taste that offers a little something for everyone.

Now that you can see where we are going, we think that it is also important to understand where we each have been. Amal Doom was born and raised in Bethlehem, Palestine. She grew up speaking Arabic, her native language and came to this country to get an education. While in America, she fell in love with a Doom (extremely ironic considering her name means "Hope" in Arabic), and moved to Columbus, Ohio with her husband where they have lived for the past 21 years. Gaining a degree in medical technology, Amal worked in the blood lab of Grant Hospital for 19 years. The year the restaurant was opened; Amal went back to school and got a teaching degree. She now teaches English as a Second Language at Walnut Springs in Westerville. It is with Amal that the dream of this restaurant began. In the Arab culture, all young women grow up cooking, and this was especially true for Amal. She watched her mother cook for the House of Hope, a school for the blind and mentally handicapped, creating mouth-watering dishes with whichever ingredients they could afford. Today, you can enjoy some of Amal's favorite authentic dishes at our restaurant. As her sons describe Arab cooking: "It's every combination of rice and lamb you could ever imagine". They have appreciated this cooking for over 19 years, and we are now proud to pass on the experience to you.

Tim Doom is the son of two FBI employees. Granted, his parents worked simple desk jobs and they were only there for a short time, but it's still really cool to say. The son of a preacher man, Tim Doom is from St. Louis, Illinois (Yes, I meant to say Illinois) and worked for Johnson Controls for the past 20 years. While his wife is an immigrant, Tim is just about as American as hot dogs and apple pie (ironic since neither are on the menu). His son commonly jokes that he swears his dad's ancestors came over on the Mayflower. While this is not completely true, Tim has a European mutt's heritage, ranging from Welsh, Irish, English, Dutch and German. Ironically, it is this wonderfully American palate that makes Tim a great restaurant owner. You see, he grew up eating the same American foods that you did. He will willingly tell you that he does not care much for grape leaves either. But he loves some Pecan Chicken and Rice and Blackened Salmon. Tim probably loves the same foods you do, which is why you can always find something you will enjoy at the Pomegranate. Tim currently runs the restaurant full time and makes sure that the restaurant is constantly improving.

We guess that because we have talked so much about ourselves, we could manage to mention a thing or so about our two sons, David and Michael. David is currently 20 years old and graduated from Gahanna Lincoln High School in 2007. He currently attends Washington and Jefferson College, studying International Business and German. Michael, 17, is still attending GLHS and is expected to graduate in 2009. Check that: He BETTER graduate in 2009…… or else. You can also see both of our sons working at the restaurant on a regular basis, or as we like to more accurately describe it: Free Labor.

Depending on how long you have been visiting the Pomegranate, you may have realized that we have progressed exponentially since we first opened. We feel that we have finally worked out most of our kinks and we are making a push to be fine dining. However, we feel that one of our strengths is admitting that we have flaws and fixing them. Please, if you have any comments to make, whether they are compliments or complaints, we would love to hear about them. We constantly strive to become better, and customer comments are an invaluable resource of improvement for us.  You do not see many nice Mediterranean restaurants around, which is a trend that both baffles and excites us. We are excited to find our unique niche in the restaurant business; because, just like our food, we love to be unique. We are Tim and Amal Doom. Thank you for being a part of our dream.

Hope. Love. Eat.

Tim and Amal Doom