A journey from Tripoli to Harletson

Tripolitania was born in a kitchen in the heart of Tripoli, Libya – a kitchen filled with the aromas of cumin, cinnamon, coriander, thyme, and the quiet wisdom of Khadija Al Sahli, the woman who taught Chef Magdulein that food is memory, medicine, and love. Every dish we serve carries her spirit, her generosity, and her belief that flavour is a story worth passing on.
 

Our name is a chapter of history. Tripolitania was the name imposed on Tripoli during Italian colonisation – a reminder of a long, painful era. Yet it also speaks to something larger: the ways in which cultures intertwine, resist, exchange, and evolve. In Libya, Italian influence entered kitchens generations ago, not as a trend but as lived reality – shaping pasta traditions, baking styles, and everyday flavours. Today, we reclaim the name with pride and purpose: to honour the city of Tripoli while telling its full, complex story.

Long before colonisation, Tripolitania sat at a Phoenician trade crossroads, linking Libya with Greece, Lebanon, and the wider Mediterranean. This movement of people, spices, and ideas created a cuisine unlike any other – one that has always been multicultural, layered, and in conversation with its neighbours.

Libyan food is, and has always been, a tapestry woven from Berber / North African, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Italian influences... a cuisine shaped by tides, travel, and time.

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“At Tripolitania we honour a cuisine that has always been fused,” says Abaida. “This is food born of exchange, shaped by time and tide, and deeply rooted in family, memory, and migration."

For Chef Magdulein Abaida, Tripolitania is more than a restaurant... it is a culinary archive, a form of storytelling, and a way to honour a homeland often misunderstood or overlooked. She is driven by a clear purpose: to bring Libyan cuisine to the world – thoughtfully, respectfully, and deliciously.
Her work is a love letter to Tripoli, to her mother Khadija, and to the generations of women whose craft shaped the dishes we serve.

Today, in a small corner of the Suffolk-Norfolk border, Tripolitania brings the flavours of Tripoli to new friends and new tables. Every plate tells a story... of home, heritage, Mediterranean markets, and a coastline where cultures have met for centuries. We invite you to join us, eat with us, and become part of the story.