How Manal Kahi is Championing Refugee Chefs in New York
It all started with some bad hummus.
When Manal Kahi arrived in New York City as a Lebanese immigrant, she was less than impressed by the subpar quality of local hummus. In a city where packaged, mass-produced hummus is in pretty much every grocery store, Kahi struggled to find anything that could compare to what she was used to back home. So she opted to make her own hummus from scratch. Together with her brother, Kahi was onto a business idea that would soon blossom into Eat Offbeat. Based in Long Island City, Eat Offbeat employs resettled refugees to share their home recipes with New Yorkers.
From Syrian cuisine to classic Senegalese dishes and Iranian treats, Eat Offbeat is first and foremost a celebration of food. As CEO and Co-Founder, Kahi sat down with our Editor-in-Chief to chat about how she founded Eat Offbeat, her work with refugees, and the challenges she’s faced as a female entrepreneur.
Unearth Women (UW): Tell us about your company, Eat Offbeat!
Manal Kahi (MK): Eat Offbeat serves authentic meals that are entirely conceived of, prepared, and delivered by refugees resettled here in New York City. We hire talented home cooks who happen to be refugees by status, we train them to become professional…
