It took quite a few months for David Dudi Califa to decide to come back to Istanbul following the attack by a suicide bomber on March 19, 2016, on one of Istanbul’s busiest streets. Califa, a food blogger from Israel, was leading a gastronomy tour when an Islamic State (IS) bomber killed three of his friends and injured 10 more of his group, including himself.

“Even while I was lying in a pool of blood and broken glass on that unfortunate day, I remember making a vow to myself that hate will not win. A little over a year after the incident, I’ve decided to start again to build the bridge of friendship between the Turkish and Israeli people,” he told Al-Monitor when he visited Istanbul on July 20.

Califa told Al-Monitor a year ago that although he and his friends had been physically and emotionally wounded, he still loved Istanbul and was determined not to hate the city that altered their lives forever. He came back and back again since then, several times, making new friends and healing his wounds around tables sharing food.

For a gourmet, the medium to build friendships is inevitably the table. Each time he visited Istanbul, Califa was more convinced that food brings people together and a good table chases away the bitter taste of fighting words and acts of violence that set nations apart.