‘This is my first time cooking in a restaurant so they’re giving me a huge opportunity.’ — This organization brings refugee chefs & their food into restaurants around the U.S. » Subscribe to NowThis:
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This Syrian refugee aspires to be a renowned chef She showcased her culinary skills for one night in a top restaurant.
Qamar: I love it. I find it fun because it’s like everything— it makes me happy.
Qamar Boutah (speaking in Arabic): This is the first time I’m cooking in a restaurant so they’re giving me a huge opportunity for people to get to know me and work in a big kitchen.
Tables Without Borders brings refugee chefs & their cuisine to U.S. restaurants
Sarah, co-founder, Tables without Borders
Sarah: This is World Refugee Week, and on every night of this week, a different restaurant in DC has hosted a refugee or asylum seeking chef from a different country.
Qamar came to the U.S. after fleeing the conflict in Syria in 2016
Qamar: The attacks started in my neighborhood and I had two little kids. We had no choice, when the bombing started to happen in the neighborhood, and our home became dangerous. [We said] ‘that’s’ enough’, and decided to leave the country.
She’s been catering traditional Syrian food with her own twist ever since
Sarah: Since moving to the U.S., she’s hosted dinners at her house just with a couple people from her resettlement organization. They kinda singled her out as someone who definitely understands the art of cooking and whose flavor profiles are really excellent.
Qamar: I started cooking after I got married. I was in the house alone, I was about 19 years old and that’s when I started cooking. I depended on myself for cooking. [...] I taught myself how to cook by watching others.
Sarah: We are compensating the chefs, as well as building their network of different chefs around DC who are interested in working with them and giving them a platform in more professional kitchens to cook and develop their skills.
Qamar: I noticed that people in America do not know my type of cooking so this encouraged me to cook and expand in the field.
Manager talking to audience: We had a chance to collaborate with Qamar over here. She’s a chef who came here from Syria a few years ago. And she’s made a great menu for us.
Sarah talking to audience: She’s so happy to be here and she’s so happy to share her recipes and her homeland with you. That’s what’s on the plate.
Guest: We’ll be eating amazing food tonight.
Guest: It was really good. I mean, I don’t think there’s gonna be anything here that I’m not gonna like but it was delicious.
Sarah: In each of the menus, they have denoted where our refugee or asylum seeking chefs — what the dishes that they’ll be making are. And it’s been really good for people to know which ones are actually made by our chefs. People have been ordering the dishes in overwhelming amounts, which has been really exciting to see.
Guest: Honestly I was going to come regardless of the cause but then knowing they were out to help Syrian refugees, that all the food’s gonna be cooked by a Syrian refugee, was really kinda special.
Refugee chefs face unique challenges in American kitchens
Sarah: It’s really difficult for some of our chefs to interact in a kitchen where some people speak English and Spanish since we’re here in DC. To be able to get the nuances of how to cook and how to have people help them, it’s kind of not enough to do it with your hands. You have to be able to voice your opinion and what you think about the dishes you’re creating.
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