Chef Reem Assil

Chef and activist Reem Assil joins Check Please! Bay Area Producer Cecilia Phillips to discuss her work to reform the restaurant industry for a sustainable and community-rooted food culture. She’ll serve up small bites for the audience as well, teaching us about what goes into some of her favorite dishes.

Reem Assil founded Reem’s with a passion for the flavors of Arab street-corner bakeries and the vibrant communities where they’re located. Growing up in a Palestinian-Syrian household, Reem was surrounded by the aromas and tastes of food from the homeland and the connections they evoked of her heritage, family, and community. Before dedicating herself to a culinary career, Reem worked for a decade as a community and labor organizer, and brings the warmth of community to all her events. She has worked with the Bay Area’s esteemed cooperative bakery Arizmendi Bakery & Pizzeria, Grace Street Catering, Local Flavors, and several local chefs. She is a graduate of the competitive food business incubator program, La Cocina. and business accelerator program ICA: Fund Good Jobs. Reem was a 2018 James Beard Semi-Finalist for Best Chef West, San Francisco Magazine's 2018 Chef of the Year and San Francisco Chronicle's 2017 Rising Star Chef.