In this episode, Katy talks with chefs Reem Assil of Reem’s California in San Francisco, and Carlo LaMagna of Magna Kusina in Portland, OR, and Magna Kubo in Beaverton. 

Reem is a Palestinian-Syrian chef and activist who was a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation Best Chef West award in 2018 and ‘19 and a finalist for the Outstanding Chef award in 2022. She won a 2023 IACP award for her cookbook, Arabiyya: Recipes from an Arab in Diaspora. 

Carlo’s restaurants highlight modern Filipino cuisine, and he was named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs in 2021. He was nominated for a 2022 James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Northwest & Pacific.

In this episode, Katy, Reem & Carlo talk about redefining success and failure, cultural and family pressures when cooking their food, and how they take care of themselves.

We recorded this episode in collaboration with the Southern Smoke Foundation and Visit Houston. Southern Smoke exists to take care of our own. As a nonprofit founded and powered by current and past F&B workers, they’ve felt the heat of the industry firsthand. Their efforts are dedicated to creating a meaningful safety net of support that doesn’t exist for most people in our world. 

To learn more about their emergency relief and mental health programs, visit their website. 

Reem Assil

Instagram  |  Reem’s California  |  Her book, Arabiyya  | Hospitality for Humanity

Carlo Lamagna

Instagram  |  Magna Kusina  |  Magna Kubo

Southern Smoke

Instagram  |  Get Help  |  Donate

Visit Houston

Instagram  |   Website