Chef Saul Montiel of Cantina Rooftop came to NYC from Atotonilco el Grande, a small town in Central Mexico, at age 15 and worked from dishwasher to executive chef. He preserves Mexican history through its cuisine and pushes back on decades of US commercialization of Mexican food.

Caracas-born chef Adriani Urbina left Venezuela to study culinary arts in France, Spain, and NYC where she started a restaurant and hospitality group and became a 3X champion of Food Network's Chopped. On today's episode, we'll discuss Chef Urbina's heritage and culinary achievements as well as her activism in women's righs and the Venezuelan crusis.

In our first episode of Season 5, we’re joined by Saigon-born Henry Trieu, chef and founder of Falansai. Henry came to the US as a refugee and worked in restaurants spanning French, Chinese, & Vietnamese cuisine before opening Falansai in Bushwick, where he makes globally-influenced Vietnamese street food under a name that carries its own special meaning.

Raised in East New York, 22-year-old Francesca Chaney grew up in an apartheid food desert with limited access to affordable plant-based foods. Connecting the ties between food, holistic wellness and economic equity is the driving mission behind her restaurant, Sol Sips, a vegan eatery in the heart of Bushwick, Brooklyn. It’s an evolving community-centered space where dishes inspired by Francesca’s Caribbean, Midwestern and Southern roots provide nourishment both in and outside of the...

On today's episode, we are joined by the founders of Spice Tree Organics, Doaa Elkady and Freda Nokaly, both Egyptian-American Muslim women who left careers in journalism & engineering (respectively) to start a business together blending the spices they grew up cooking with. Through their ethically sourced and small-batch organic spice blends, they impart flavor and share their cultural heritage. Join us for a candid conversation about being female, Egyptian, and Muslim food entrepreneurs...

Ysanet Batista is the founder of Woke Foods, a food justice worker-owned cooperative that uses plant based food and farming as a tool of empowerment for people in her community to heal from trauma, engage in community activism and decolonize their diets. A queer Black-Dominican woman raised between Harlem, Florida and the Dominican Republic who proudly started her business while still on food stamps, Ysanet engages with economic need and systemic inequity, doing work that unpacks historical...

As a queer Jamaican-American, DeVonn Francis thinks a lot about home—as a place he grew up, a destination he returns to, and a body he inhabits. After moving from his hometown in Virginia to study performance art at Cooper Union in New York City, where he says he “became a person,” his wanted to infuse art and performance with his family’s own rich tradition of cooking and sharing meals that celebrate Caribbean culture. His vision was brought to life through Yardy, an experiential events...

On today's show we speak with Mayada Anjari, the author of the cookbook, The Bread And Salt Between Us. Mayada is from Syria and she came to the United States in 2016 with her husband and four children under the Refugee Admissions Program of the U.S. Government. Her book was created collaboratively with photographer Liz Clayman, food stylist Mira Evnine ( both in studio) and co-author Jennifer Sit. Each person involved with the book volunteered their time and talents so that all proceeds will...

Caracas-born culinary artist and self-taught chef Mercedes Golip remembers being a picky eater as a child. Now, her life revolves around experimenting with food. Years after she and her husband immigrated to Miami, they moved to NYC where her evolving curiosity for food was met with an abundance of CSA vegetables. Longing for food from home inspired her to recreate traditional Venezuelan dishes using ingredients grown in New York, but she wondered, is this still Venezuelan food?—a weighty...

After moving from her hometown of Boston to New York City for college, Cleopatra Zuli saw that something was missing from the local dining experiences where thoughtful conversations were accidental and safe space often in short supply. Having used food to educate and empower queer communities of color and their allies for years, Cleo founded BLK Palate, a culinary art collective based in Best-Stuy curating purpose-driven dining experiences that honor the African diaspora, decolonize ideas...

Raised in Ghana, Essie Bartels came to the United States when she was 18 with a dream of working her way up the ranks in corporate America. Disheartened by the food she encountered in the U.S, she switched gears and created Essie Spice, a small-batch spice and sauce company inspired by the flavors of West Africa and history and knowledge passed down from three generations.

Nik Sharma is the writer, photographer, and recipe developer behind A Brown Table, an award-winning blog. His weekly column, A Brown Kitchen, appears in the San Francisco Chronicle His newly released cookbook, Season, is based on his blog and tells the story of his upbringing in Mumbai and his journey to the United States in order to live as openly gay man. Through cooking, Nik was able to discover an outlet for his creativity and unite the flavors of his childhood in India and his current...

When Jerusalem-born Reem Kassis left home at age 17 for university in the United States, she vowed she'd never never end up in the kitchen.

Surbhi Sahni is a veteran NYC chef and the creative director at Saar Indian Bistro. Surbhi landed her first restaurant job over 20 years ago in an all-female professional kitchen in Delhi before she moved to the US where she juggled graduate work in food studies at New York University with long hours in restaurant kitchens. Now in New York City's dining scene—an industry still dominated by male chefs—Surbhi is known for her creative concepts that blend contemporary and traditional flavors....

Naz Deravian is the award-winning writer of the blog and cookbook, Bottom Of The Pot. Naz's family fled Iran in 1980 amidst the Iranian Revolution and hostage crisis. Her new cookbook tells the story of her journey from Iran to the United States via Italy and Canda, and is a vibrant collection of Persian recipes and food memories.

Chef Lucas Sin of Junzi Kitchen opemed his first restaurant at the age of 16 in an abandoned newspaper factory in his hometown of Hong Kong and then ran a pop-up restaurant out of dorm at Yale University. With Junzi Kitchen, he aims to update the narrative on the modern Chinese everyday food experience in the United States.

Sana Javeri Kadri is a queer food photographer amd the founder of Diaspora Co., a spice collective that opeates in Mumbai and Oakland. Tune in to hear Sana talk about her work in social justice, food culture, sustainable agriculture and decolonization.

On the Season 4 premiere of Food Without Borders, Sari is joined in-studio by Yemi Amu, the co-founder of Oko Farms, Brooklyn's largest and oldest aquaponics farm. Tune in for a conversation about farming, responsible fish consumption, and Yemi's journey from Lagos, Nigeria to Queens, NY.

On this very special epsiode of Food Without Borders, Sari is joined in studio by Phil Rosenthal, the creator of Everybody Loves Raymond and host of Somebody Feed Phil, now in its second season on Netflix. Tune in to hear Phil discuss his admiration for Anthony Bourdain, his philosphy on food as a means of peace, his feelings on members of the Trump administration getting booed out of Mexican restaurants, plus special guests Chef Mike Solomonov and Sari's mom!

Changing the Conversation was a live crossover episode of A Hungry Society and Food Without Borders that explored how to create meaningful change for women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community in the food world. It took place on Thursday, June 21, 2018 on the rooftop of 100 Bogart in Bushwick. Hosts Korsha Wilson (A Hungry Society) and Sari Kamin (Food Without Borders) welcomed guests Leah Kirts, Vonnie Williams, Mayukh Sen, and Yemi Amu to discuss access, equity, and opportunity in...

Noobtsaa Philip Vang is the founder of Foodhini, a meal delivery service that employs immigrant & refugee chefs, creating space for them to share their culture's cuisine and increase multicultural representation in local food scenes in cities across the US. Vang was inspired by his parents, who came to the U.S. as refugees from Laos, and by the untold stories behind his mother's home-cooked Lao dishes that he grew up eating.

On the Season 3 finale of Food Without Borders, we speak with best-selling author, campaigner, and cook, Yasmin Khan. Her debut book, The Saffron Tales, explored her culinary adventures through Iran and was named by The New York Times as one of the best cookbooks of 2016. Her forthcoming book, Zaitoun (2018), celebrates stories and recipes from Palestinian communities. Prior to working in food, Yasmin was a human rights campaigner for a decade, running national and international campaigns for...

Abdulsalam Abujebel, or Abdi, is the Ethiopian owner of Oasis Jimma Juice Bar in Harlem, New York City. After spending years in a Kenyan refugee camp and struggling to find his footing, Abdi was able to come to New York City in the hopes of better fortune, despite being diabetic, broke, and not knowing English. After realizing that diet was at the root of his health problems, Abdi discovered there was nowhere in his Harlem neighborhood to purchase fast, nutritious, and affordable food. ...

Kolkata-born and raised Mini Dhingra speaks with Leah about why she left a career as a business analyst to start a food company making small-batch artisanal samosas. Since launching four years ago as a small booth at a local farmers market, Samosa Shack has become a source of community for Dhingra and a way to make deeper connections with her Indian identity through food. Dhingra talks about the unorthodox way she blends traditional Indian recipes with seasonal Hudson Valley produce, why...

Today in studio we spoke with Hugo Vera, the chef-de-cuisine at Atla, an all-day cafe in New York City. Hugo moved to South Carolina from Mexico City at age 19 and caught the eye of top chefs in the South such as Shay McDonald and Sean Brock. Now, just eight years later, he works alongside some of the the youngest, most celebrated chefs in the country pushing boundaries and expanding people’s understanding of what contemporary Mexican cuisine is.