Today we’d like to introduce you to Zumi.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Zumi. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Club sofra started over a conversation with a friend co-worker when she told me that Airbnb launched this new thing called Airbnb Experience. I’ve been finding different ways to settle down in LA and make my place feel more homey after a year of moving to a bunch of different friend’s houses and not really feeling home at all. So we went on the website, created an experience and it really was mainly for me to meet new people in LA and just share my space with strangers who maybe potentially can become friends and I thought of doing it over food. I like cooking, I come from a home-cooking culture, I was born and raised in Egypt, most of our memories we make around the dinner table. That’s where the name came from Sofra, which is dinner table in Egyptian Arabic.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I think I had it way easier than most people. I have met a lot of people who hosted supper clubs before and it’s incredibly hard to get the word out and have people try your food when you’re not a chef. I mean I’m a home cook, I make food from recipes my mom sends me over voice notes, but I think the experience was successful because I have an idea or two on how to entertain and create an atmosphere that serves the concept I’m selling. When I started sofra I really wanted people to connect with each other, I wanted to introduce the Egyptian cuisine that is only known by Kebab and grilled meats while totally ignored when it comes to vegetarianism and veganism which actually is a huge part of Egyptian food. Felafel is vegan, Koshary is vegan, Fool is vegan, and Betengan (Eggplant), all these are basically the most famous meals in Egypt and all can be easily made with all vegan ingredients. So I guess the trick was to sell Egyptian food as an unordinary vegan food away from customary ingredients like Quinoa and Kale. The main struggles for me though were how to make my studio apartment comfortable for guests, so the won’t feel like they’re having dinner in my bedroom, and it is still a struggle that’s why the next step is to make this mobile.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Sofra club is a dinner experience where guests get to pick four dishes from a list of about seven dishes. Food is versatile so it can be vegetarian, vegan, paleo, I try to be kind to all diets, especially that most of the dishes are cook are very vegetable centric. I specialize in Egyptian and Middle-eastern cuisine, but if you aren’t an enthusiast of this type of food, I’m sure you’ll find a lot of my dishes gibberish but I try to explain as much as possible. So far, the main dish that’s been a hit is Fettah Betengan, which basically is an eggplant dish made with all vegan ingredients which was really tricky but turned out really well. I’m proud of having been able to host a lot of dinners in such a short period of time, its hard to imagine if Covid-19 didn’t come around how I would have been able to sustain this. I’m also proud that Sofra is the only Egyptian supper club in Los Angeles.
What were you like growing up?
I’ve always been a people’s person, I like long conversations with friends, I like being outdoors, I’m really greedy I want to experience everything and anything. I have this constant guilt that I’m not doing enough of my life, so I pack and go every couple of years, it’s incredibly exhausting but I’ve come to terms that I do not know how to settle down in one place, so maybe Sofra will help.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.clubsofra.com
- Phone: 9492761566
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: clubsofra
Image Credit:
Snapshots from Noura Al Manae Documentary. Other pictures from Joel Nunn-sparks
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