Food connects us all. It connects us to each other, our pasts and identities, memories, and the larger world around us. It allows us to explore cultures, make meaningful connections and preserve traditions. For Armenian American Syrian Lebanese third-generation chef Lena Artunian, food remains a part of her identity and not just her source of income. She was born in Beirut, Lebanon, but raised in Los Angeles, California, in a family of exceptional chefs. She has dedicated her inherited skills to introducing the taste of her age-old family recipes to the food culture of LA.
After 20 years of having a family restaurant and her father’s untimely passing, Lena realized that the culinary wisdom from her grandfather and her late father had to be preserved, revived, and shared. And that became her ultimate goal as she ventured into food blogging. She cherished these recipes as part of her identity, a treasure in an era when food culture could become too standardized. She vowed never to forget to preserve and pass on these traditions, celebrating them every chance she got. They truly were something special that needed to be preserved for generations to come.
To keep the Mediterranean food culture alive in Los Angeles, she provides private cooking classes and also runs an Instagram blog that goes by the name HyeFeastLA. It has been ten years of running the blog. One of her Mediterranean recipes that currently has 1265 likes and 20k views on Instagram is that of her number 1 favorite meal, Kibbeh Neyyeh bil Lehmeh, aka Chikufteh. She also loves cooking it because her grandmother used to cook it every week, and she has strong special memories associated with it.
It’s a delicate raw beef dish very popular in Syria, Lebanon, and other middle eastern countries. She always adds a personalized touch to all of her dishes. For this one, she has advised her followers to pair the dish up with Armenian-Oghi, Greek-Ouzo, Arabic- Arak, a licorice-flavored drink. “Very nostalgic food,” shares Lena.
Through this recipe and many other similar dishes, she aims to keep the Mediterranean food culture alive even in Los Angeles and is doing a pretty good job at it already!