Russell Crowe has made a “very generous” donation towards rebuilding Le Chef, a Beirut restaurant frequented by late chef Anthony Bourdain that was destroyed during the blasts that rocked the city on August 4th.
According to the GoFundMe page that has been launched for the restaurant, Le Chef had “survived war and economic crises, but the port explosion left it in shambles.”
“Le Chef has been a staple of Gemmayze, the neighbourhood closest to the blast site, since it opened in 1967,” the description continued. “Charbel’s infamous ‘Welcoooome’ and the restaurant’s warm food and even warmer hospitality have been a constant source of comfort for so many over the years.”
“Anthony Bourdain, who stopped by Le Chef on both of his visits to Beirut, described it as ‘a legendary spot, famed for its simple, straightforward, home-style classics.’”
Soon afterwards, a journalist named Richard Hall noticed a $5000 donation under the actor’s name, tweeting: “Someone called Russell Crowe made a very generous donation to our Le Chef fundraiser. But not sure if it’s *the* @russellcrowe.”
The donation in question was for $5,000, which Crowe seemed to confirm by retweeting the link, adding that the donation was made on behalf of Bourdain, who died June 8th, 2018 by suicide.
Crowe replied, “I thought that he would have probably done so if he was still around.
“I wish you and LeChef the best and hope things can be put back together soon.”
Bourdain was known to have been a fan of the restaurant, dining at Le Chef during at least two separate visits to Lebanon.
The GoFundMe page initially aimed to raise $15,000 but has since surpassed that amount in less than 24 hours.
“We will continue collecting donations and all additional funds will go toward supporting the staff until Le Chef can reopen, so please do keep giving!!! Every dollar will go toward keeping the staff and their families fed and housed at this difficult time,” the restaurant added in a new post.
Two explosions occurred at the port of the city of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon on the afternoon of August 4th, killing nearly 200 people and injuring around 6,000. The blasts also caused billions of dollars in property damage and left an estimated 300,000 people homeless.
