Arabiyya with Reem Assil - In Person

A hands-on in-person cooking class culminating in a meal served with wine and beer. This class is limited to 14 students. See our registration policies here and our rules for in-person events here.

We are so pleased to host Reem Assil in our 18th St. Kitchen classroom once again! She recently published her cookbook, Arabiyya: Recipes from the Life of an Arab in Diaspora (click here for more details), and in this class, she'll teach you a few recipes from her book. If you've been part of 18 Reasons events in the past, you may have been a student at one of her cooking classes in 2016, making bread and mezze. Perhaps you were part of our 2021 fundraiser (Master Chefs at Home), where Reem volunteered to cook one of the dinner courses. Or perhaps you were a hungry customer at one of our 2015 collaborations with La Cocina, where Reem ran a food stall at our Night Market. This is not a night to be missed to connect and learn from the inspiring and generous chef and teacher behind a visionary bakery in the Bay (click here to learn more about Reem's California).

For this summer weeknight class, we chose a menu to inspire dinner parties. Whether you're entertaining a group or making a special occasion meal for your family, this is a menu for the home cook looking to extend warmth and hospitality to their loved ones, just as Reem and her team do at her restaurant.

Additionally, we will have a few copies of Arabiyya available for sale, in partnership with our friends at Omnivore Books.

MENU

Sayadiyah—Fish in Caramelized Onion Rice

California Fattoush

Knafeh—Shredded Phyllo-Crusted Sweet Cheese

This menu contains the following common allergens: fish, wheat, dairy, tree nuts. If you have allergies or dietary restrictions that concern your ability to cook along, please e-mail info@18reasons.org before purchasing a ticket.

Let’s Cook Together! 

Reem Assil is a Palestinian-Syrian chef based in Oakland, CA and owner of Reem’s California, a nationally acclaimed restaurant in Oakland and Reem’s California Mission in San Francisco, inspired by Arab street corner bakeries and the vibrant communities that surround them. Reem has garnered an array of top accolades in the culinary world, including back to back James Beard Semifinalist nods for Best Chef: West (2018-19) and is a Finalist for Outstanding Chef (2022). She is a graduate of the competitive food business incubator program, La Cocina, business leadership program Centro Community Partners, and Oakland-based business accelerator program ICA: Fund Good Jobs.  

Before dedicating herself to a culinary career, Reem spent over a decade as a community and labor organizer, building leadership in workers and residents to fight for living wages, affordable housing, and a voice in their jobs and their neighborhoods.  Reem was a 2021 Emerson Collective Fellow in the Recover & Renew Cohort to incubate Sumoud, a replicable worker-ownership apprenticeship program equipping food-service workers with the tools they need to make meaningful, systemic change in the restaurant industry and beyond.  

Reem’s newest book, Arabiyya: Recipes from the Life of an Arab in Diaspora, is a collection of 100+ bright, bold recipes influenced by the vibrant flavors and convivial culture of the Arab world, filled with moving personal essays on food, family, and identity and mixed with a pinch of California cool.

Reem sits at the intersection of her three passions: food, community, and social justice. She uses food to invoke the central virtue of her Arab culture ⁠— hospitality ⁠— to build strong, resilient, and connected community.

Connect with Reem through Instagram: @reem.assil, Twitter: @assil_reem, Website: reem-assil.com
 

_{Photo credit: Andria Lo}