In 2020, I named my food project Lingua Fresca because it means “fresh language” in Italian.
Even then before I was doing pizza pop-ups I knew that food was something that was going to connect me with parts of myself I normally didn’t with in LA, especially during the heat of my twensites in the music scene.
Food is Italy where I left pieces of my soul living in Tuscany when I was 20 and in Puglia when I was 25. Food was my host families cooking for me every night. Veal involtini wrapped around ricotta that I’ll never forget in Florence, gelato every day on the walk back from school, prosciutto sandwiches for lunch. In Puglia food was my host family teaching me how to make capunti pasta with my hands, taking me to the cheese shop twice a week, feeding me horse meat (god it was DELICIOUS), mozzarella for lunch (literally), cookies for breakfast (even for adults!).
Food is my home away from home in Iran. My grandmas spending hours cooking up vegetable stews for the whole family, all my cousins sitting cross-legged on the tablecloth spread out on the floor passing around large trays piled high with lamb and grilled tomatoes.
Food is the house where I grew up in Los Angeles. My dad taking a sushi-making class and hosting DIY sushi parties for us and our family friends, grilling kabobs in the backyard, us building a wooden picnic table with a hole in the center for our coal barbeque for DIY Korean BBQ nights, my brother growing up and making us fancy and fresh instagram-worthy dishes.
Music took over my life during my twenties and I’m glad it did—everything needed to happen the way it did and DAMN THAT WAS WILD, wasn’t it?!
But I didn’t grow up around music.
I grew up around food, and it feels really good to remember that.
If you don’t follow me on Instagram, you might not know how amped I have been lately taking photos of chefs, restaurants, and pop-ups during prep, service, and in between. I feel so alive when my camera is propelling me forward— making my way around tight corners, bouncing between back and front of house, capturing the energy of the unnoticed experiences and moments.
I started a photo series to lean in even further. Check out Scenes for Service #1: Lucky Nick’s Pizza x Woon Kitchen.