In 1929, Chaim and Noami Amir emigrated from Yemen to Jerusalem. Shortly after arriving, Chaim landed a respectable position managing a tile manufacturing plant until the company was forced to shut its doors. With the weight of his family on his shoulders, Chaim struggled with the challenges brought about by unemployment. One day, Noami was taught by her neighbor the recipe for Egyptian falafel. She modified it to her liking, making the falafel from garbanzo beans instead of fava beans as well as adding her own combination of spices to the mix. As times grew tougher, she proposed the idea of selling falafel at the local marketplace to her husband. Embarrassed to sell such a product, Chaim dismissed the idea, but Noami insisted. She prepared the falafel at home, filling the pita bread with nothing but tahina, hot sauce, and pickles, and sent him off to make some money. Within hours, he sold all the falafel sandwiches. The following day she doubled his inventory and, yet again, he returned faster than expected, without any leftovers. This continued until one day contractors began to construct a building where Chaim used to sell his sandwiches. Noami, who by that time had saved some money from the falafel sales, contacted the landlord and purchased space in the building. By the time Chaim and his wife opened their falafel restaurant, it was not only the first in the region, but the most successful as well.