Juliana Latif Transcript
Kerry Diamond:
Hi, everyone. You are listening to Radio Cherry Bombe. I'm your host, Kerry Diamond, coming to you from Outpost Studios in San Francisco. I'm the founder and editor of Cherry Bombe Magazine, and each week I talk to the most interesting women and culinary creatives in and around the world of food.
Today's guest is Juliana Latif, chef of Zou Zou's in New York City. Juliana is a total rising star, and Zou Zou's is one of my favorite restaurants in the city right now. She grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut, the youngest of 11 children. Juliana got her start in the food world working at her parents' Middle Eastern grocery and takeout shop. She later found herself in the world of fine dining, and then as part of the opening team for Zou Zou's, an Eastern Mediterranean restaurant in midtown Manhattan. If you visit, be on the lookout for Juliana because it is an open kitchen. Stay tuned for my chat with Juliana Latif.
Thank you so much to OpenTable for supporting Radio Cherry Bombe over the past several weeks. We just concluded our Sit With Us series with OpenTable that brought us to Olamaie's in Austin, AOC in Los Angeles, Foreign Cinema and San Francisco, and Zou Zou's. Thank you to everyone who joined us. Each dinner was so much fun and I loved getting to meet so many of you. Definitely go visit these restaurants if you are in these cities. And of course, you can book your reservation through OpenTable.
The new issue of Cherry Bombe's print magazine is now available. You can subscribe via cherrybombe.com and receive Cherry Bombe direct to your door four times a year. Or you could pick up a copy at your favorite bookstore, magazine shop, or culinary store. You can find Cherry Bombe at Book Larder in Seattle, the Petite Shop at the Lost Kitchen in Freedom Maine. And for our international friends, We Are Ferment in Vienna and Under the Cover in Lisbon. For more stockist locations, head to cherrybombe.com and click on the magazine tab. Thank you in advance for supporting our print magazine.
Now let's check in with today's guest. Juliana Latif, welcome to Radio Cherry Bombe.
Juliana Latif:
Thank you. Thank you. So excited to be here.
Kerry Diamond:
Juliana, let's jump right into it. Where did you grow up?
Juliana Latif:
I grew up in West Hartford, Connecticut. Yeah. Small town, but very tight community.
Kerry Diamond:
Who was the cook at home?
Juliana Latif:
My mom. Yeah. She was the chef. And when we had leftovers, my dad was the chef and he'd just heat them up. Her specialty was grape leaves, so she would always take about two days to make it. She'd make the filling, and then we'd spend a whole day rolling grape leaves. And it was a big ordeal, but they're perfect. They're the best.
Kerry Diamond:
And you helped out by choice or were you enlisted?
Juliana Latif:
I helped out by choice in the kitchen, and then I was enlisted to wash the dishes.
Kerry Diamond:
Did things start to click when you were little? Was it clear you had more ability or interest than other kids?
Juliana Latif:
Yeah. I think I was always in the kitchen with her and always interested in what she was doing. Always wanted to taste what she was doing, whether it was raw eggplant or stepping on a chair to see what's in the pot. But yeah. I was always around her.
Kerry Diamond:
Your folks had a specialty goods store-
Juliana Latif:
Mm-hmm.
Kerry Diamond:
... in Connecticut. Tell us a little bit about that.
Juliana Latif:
So it's called Tangiers. It started out in Hartford, Connecticut, and then it moved into West Hartford. But basically it's half of a product grocery store with items from all around the world. And the other half is prepared foods that my mom makes. We have a small little counter where we serve falafel, gyros, shawarma, all that good stuff.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh. I'm putting this on my list, 100%. When did your folks open this?
Juliana Latif:
They opened it in '94, so 28 years ago.
Kerry Diamond:
And why did your parents open the shop?
Juliana Latif:
That's a great question. I think they had a couple of other spots in Auburn, Massachusetts, and when we moved to Connecticut, they just wanted to keep that going. All of us have worked in the store, so it was a perfect way to support the family and spread our culture through that community.
Kerry Diamond:
And your culture being?
Juliana Latif:
Lebanese and Jordanian.
Kerry Diamond:
How have your folks handled all the competition? Back in 1994, of course, there were places doing prepared foods and smaller grocery stores, but it was really before things like Amazon and Whole Foods and just everybody opening a food business, seemingly. How have they handled the competition over the years?
Juliana Latif:
I would say that we've stayed true to our family ties and how we do business. We're very family forward. It's how we treat people. And we've become integrated into the community, so it's then become a destination spot for people who move out, and then come back and... Yeah, a lot of it is just the way we handle people.
Kerry Diamond:
So customer service and great food?
Juliana Latif:
Yeah. Exactly.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. When did you start working there?
Juliana Latif:
I started working there in, I think my senior year of high school, maybe a little bit earlier on the weekends. Started out with just cleaning the windows, sweeping the floors, mopping at the end of the night, washing those dishes. And then it turned into preparing the foods with my mother, and then it turned into talking to the customers and so on, so forth, and eventually when I was in college, running it with me and my brother.
Kerry Diamond:
So you started at the bottom.
Juliana Latif:
Started at the bottom.
Kerry Diamond:
Good place to start. Good place to start. You learn a lot.
Juliana Latif:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
When did your folks let you start to do some of the cooking?
Juliana Latif:
Man, it probably wasn't until I hit culinary school where my mom trusted me to do it on my own.
Kerry Diamond:
Is she a great cook?
Juliana Latif:
She's incredible, but she doesn't measure anything. It was a little difficult going from learning how to use recipes to her one spoonful.
Kerry Diamond:
That's interesting because she's cooking for the whole shop. She's not just cooking at home. So no recipes for that. Wow.
Juliana Latif:
Yeah. Everything is eyeballed and she's got her secret. So as much as I want to know them, I don't.
Kerry Diamond:
How does your mom even take a vacation? She doesn't.
Juliana Latif:
She does not.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. Sad truth of mom and pops, right?
Juliana Latif:
Mm-hmm.
Kerry Diamond:
You mentioned some of the dishes at the specialty goods shop. What, if someone shows up, is the thing that they absolutely have to order?
Juliana Latif:
They absolutely need to order the falafel. It is incredible. My mom has her secret recipe. I've tried to make it. I make it my own way now. But the cool thing about it is we fry it in extra virgin olive oil, so it's super crisp and clean. It doesn't taste like a deep fryer. We've got this whole special pot, and everything is just made fresh daily. So it's some of the best falafel I've ever had in my life. Tangiers in West Hartford, and it was named Tangiers because the city in Morocco used to be the trading center of the world. So when my father wanted to bring all these specialty goods to Connecticut, that's what he thought of.
Kerry Diamond:
And when are they open?
Juliana Latif:
They are open Monday through Saturday, closed on Sundays.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. Don't go on Sunday. You'll be disappointed. Hopefully, a lot of our listeners will go check out what your parents are up to. Let's talk about you. When did you wanted to be a chef?
Juliana Latif:
I think from a very early age, just hang out in the kitchen with my mom. I wanted to do what she did. And I didn't necessarily know how to get there, but I threw out the word culinary school and that was kind of, "What do you need to learn in culinary school that you can't learn here?"
Kerry Diamond:
And you said, "Measuring cups."
Juliana Latif:
Exactly. So I held off on that path for a little bit. I went to just a state school to work in education, and then that wasn't really fulfilling my dream. So I really confidently told my parents that I wanted to go to culinary school and that I'd figure it out, and that it was going to be the best idea for me. It was probably the first real decision I had ever made for myself. Yeah. I went and did that. I went to a culinary institute in Connecticut, also in Hartford. I worked at the restaurant. Yeah. A lot has happened since then.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you watch a lot of food TV as a kid?
Juliana Latif:
I did. I watched a lot of “Chopped,” honestly. Once I started culinary school, I thought that was so fascinating. But even before then, we watched a lot of Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern, “Bizarre Foods,” and my dad actually loved watching that stuff too, because those guys were world travelers and they shared passion about the food, just like we did.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you have any chef heroes?
Juliana Latif:
I don't think I had any chef heroes. I think I just really loved watching the structures of the kitchen, even Gordon Ramsay being crazy, and the competition in “Chopped” and just all of the food around the world. I wanted to experience it all.
Kerry Diamond:
So you were more into the adventurous side of culinary and kitchens.
Juliana Latif:
Mm-hmm.
Kerry Diamond:
When was your first restaurant job, not in the place owned by your parents?
Juliana Latif:
So I actually went to Florida for an internship with Disney through culinary school. I worked there for four months, and then I decided to stay in Florida. I worked in a few, what they used to call farm-to-table restaurants in Florida. And-
Kerry Diamond:
So wait. You have to go back to Disney. You can't just gloss over the Disney experience. Was it a small world after all?
Juliana Latif:
Absolutely not. It was a wild ride. It's such a huge operation.
Kerry Diamond:
I can't even imagine.
Juliana Latif:
It's so structured and so well-run that you could plug anybody in there and work. So I learned some big picture things there. I got to work in mass production with food, which was something I didn't think I was ever going to do. It ended up not being what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, but it was in an incredible experience and I got to go to Disney for free for four months.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. So you're down in Florida. When did you come back up east?
Juliana Latif:
I came back in 2018, started my journey to NoMad. I trailed at a lot of places in New York. I wanted a bigger challenge. Florida's amazing but was missing something. So I never envisioned myself working for a Michelin star restaurant. I came into New York with the mentality of, "Don't work at those restaurants. It might not fulfill what you're looking for. You might not learn what you need to learn."
Kerry Diamond:
Elaborate on that a little bit. What do you mean?
Juliana Latif:
I definitely was worried about the structure in those kitchens and the harsh black and white, "Yes, Chef. No, Chef," and that's all you can say, and worried about being able to ask questions and actually learn stuff.
Kerry Diamond:
So interesting. So when you were at Disney, it was a good learning opportunity because it was so big, you could ask questions?
Juliana Latif:
Actually, after Disney, I worked in some smaller restaurants. So I got to have different relationships with the chefs, the executive chef, the sous chefs. It wasn't a very harsh, "Yes, Chef. No, Chef," culture there. So I got to take out from that as much as I wanted to and ask as many questions as I wanted to. So I had this fear that New York kitchens were really scary and harsh, and if I had a question, I was an idiot.
Kerry Diamond:
Why did you come to New York?
Juliana Latif:
I wanted a bigger challenge. I felt like I had learned a lot in Florida and I wanted to start seeing how far I could take my skills, and seeing what I was capable of.
Kerry Diamond:
Was your personal culinary vocabulary developing at the same time?
Juliana Latif:
Yeah. It definitely was. I was doing a little bit of creative development in Florida, the last restaurant I worked at, and I put one or two dishes on the menu. And even on my last day, I think we rolled out a brunch item of mine. And it was really, really amazing to be able to get my hand in there.
Kerry Diamond:
We'll be right back with today's guest.
Jessie Sheehan:
Hi, peeps. My name is Jessie Sheehan and I'm a baker, author, and host of She's My Cherry Pie, the baking podcast on The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network and the number one baking podcast in the country. Each week I talk to the best bakers and pastry chefs around and do a deep dive into their signature baked goods. You'll learn the tips, tricks, and techniques that make their bakes the best around. Don't miss my interviews with Claudia Fleming, Zoë François, Joy the Baker, Natasha Pickowicz, and so many others. You can find She's My Cherry Pie on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and cherrybombe.com. New episodes drop on Saturdays. Happy listening and happy baking.
Kerry Diamond:
So you come to New York. Do you land at NoMad right away?
Juliana Latif:
I do. I trailed at a couple of places. Once I trailed at NoMad, I fell in love. I didn't really consider any other place but there. They had such a big team, and the way it was run, and the quality of the food was just so high. And the standards were so high that I knew I wanted to be there too.
Kerry Diamond:
And at the time, it was a very, very major restaurant. Tell us a little bit about what NoMad was all about.
Juliana Latif:
So the NoMad Hotel was the second restaurant of the Eleven Madison Park group, the Make It Nice group, Daniel Humm and Will Guidara. It was a high-end hotel where they served... I want to say more casual, but it also wasn't casual by any means. It was more approachable, I guess, more approachable fine dining food with incredibly high standards.
Kerry Diamond:
Was there any fear factor coming from what you had come from?
Juliana Latif:
Oh, definitely. I was worried that I didn't understand the food and didn't understand what they were trying to do. I was worried about not fitting in with the team and coming as an outsider, and not only an outsider, but somebody from Florida. Never worked in New York before. So I did get my fair share of this isn't Florida when I first started there.
Kerry Diamond:
Ouch.
Juliana Latif:
But that ended really quickly when I started running with the big dogs there.
Kerry Diamond:
Good for you. Good for you. So you're at NoMad. How do you do there? Do you get promoted? Do you really start to develop even more of your vocabulary?
Juliana Latif:
Mm-hmm. I worked there for a little under a year, and then I got promoted to sous chef, which was something I didn't even know, one, I was capable of, and two, that I could accomplish. So that was huge. And yeah, after that, NoMad and EMP, they have their tasting menus and they delegate responsibility to the sous chef team of, "This is the dish that you're going to work on for this month." And you have about four months to get there, and you have tastings every single week. And it's really intense, and Daniel Humm's coming in and tasting your food, and you're really questioning your worth.
Kerry Diamond:
What came next?
Juliana Latif:
So after I became a sous chef, I worked my way through there. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit. That was devastating to all restaurants and all communities and restaurants.
Kerry Diamond:
Even your folks?
Juliana Latif:
Yeah. Luckily, we've bounced back since. I worked in the Hamptons for a little bit with a restaurant out there. I was doing a falafel popup when no one could really leave. So that was fun. And then Zou Zou's came up. I had worked with the director of operations, Alex Pfaffenbach, at NoMad. He was the previous GM at NoMad. And he reached out to me about Zou Zou's and the project, and an Eastern Mediterranean, fine casual... I don't really know, we're still trying to define it... restaurant to be born and wanting to have my input in it. Was just a very easy yes for me.
Kerry Diamond:
Must have sounded like a dream when they presented it to you.
Juliana Latif:
Yeah. I was definitely asking, "What's the catch?"
Kerry Diamond:
So what happened next?
Juliana Latif:
So I met with the corporate chef, Chef Craig Koketsu, and he is an incredible chef. He's got lots of history here in New York. And just like the NoMad, I fell in love with this concept and this idea of being able to create a menu with someone who I also used to work with at the NoMad chef Madeline Sperling, under Chef Craig, with Pfaffenbach. It sounded like a dream to me.
So we spent four or five months in the summer creating dishes in one of their other restaurants and trying and failing, and succeeding and failing again, and working on desserts that we shouldn't be working on because we're not pastry chefs. And then that menu was born, and then it was time to build out the restaurant. And that was maybe the biggest challenge for me.
Kerry Diamond:
Now, Zou Zou's, for folks who might not know it, it's also a whole new part of New York City. People might be like, "What?" But it's this development called Manhattan West that really is west. It's behind the old post office and Moynihan station. Whole group of restaurants over there, and hotels, and there's a Whole Foods. And it's a trek to get over there. But somehow, build it and they will come. You are now one of the most popular restaurants in New York City. Your phone must blow up all the time with people who are like, "Could I get a reservation?"
Juliana Latif:
Yes. They do. Manhattan West is a really interesting place. It almost feels like a utopia. Somewhere in between Hudson Yards and Penn Station, you'd never think you'd find these really nice restaurants and hotels and stuff.
Kerry Diamond:
An outdoor area.
Juliana Latif:
Yeah. A huge patio. And during the wintertime they have a ice skating rink. Santa's there for Christmas. It's crazy.
Kerry Diamond:
It's a good female chef power over there too.
Juliana Latif:
Yeah. Yeah. Across the street. Ci Siamo. They're incredible.
Kerry Diamond:
Have you met Hillary?
Juliana Latif:
I have. She's amazing. Their food over there... Whenever I'm not finishing up at work early, I just go across the street and have a bowl of pasta. And it's like, where else do I need to go?
Kerry Diamond:
That's the life. Chef Hillary Sterling. I should mention we love Chef Hillary here. Clearly you are a big thinker and you have a great head on your shoulders. Did you have any idea what Zou Zou's was going to become?
Juliana Latif:
I definitely did not. We thought it was going to turn out one way, and the second we opened our doors, we knew it was going to be a much different beast. And that, we were more grateful for, honestly.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell us about the food.
Juliana Latif:
So the food, the best I can explain the food there is it has French cooking techniques to it with these huge Middle Eastern flavors, modern-looking platting. But yeah. Not to describe it too crazily, I'd say we got to take a lot of home cooking traditional items and flip them into something that people have never eaten before. I've had a lot of people come and eat at Zou Zou's and say, "This tastes exactly what my grandmother used to make, but it's absolutely like nothing I've ever eaten before." And that's exactly what I wanted to do.
Kerry Diamond:
The big question is probably not what the restaurant critics like Pete Wells thinks, but what do your parents think?
Juliana Latif:
My mother was a... She came to our first friends and family, and I was sweating for sure when she came to eat, but she loves it. Her favorite dish is the fattoush salad, and that's actually our most far from authentic, unique salad we've got. People order it thinking they're going to get a fattoush, and it's completely different. So I'm really-
Kerry Diamond:
Could you maybe not call it a fattoush? Wait. Now you've got to tell us now. What is it if it's not a fattoush?
Juliana Latif:
So the traditional fattoush is lettuce, tomatoes, onions, lots of lemon, lots of herbs, mint, parsley, some red onions sometimes with pita crisps in the salads. So it's like croutons. So at Zou Zou's, we take shaved red cabbage. We take jicama really sliced thin, apples. Depending on the season, apples or plums. We've got apricots in there. We've got candied pecans for sweetness. We use tahini vinaigrette on the bottom so you can mix it all up. And then to top it off, we have a perfect circle of a pita crisp. So when we drop it on the table, you get a nice little crack, like a creme brulee moment.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh. That's fun. You open November 21. You're a hit right out of the gate.
Juliana Latif:
Yeah. Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
How did that change life in the kitchen? What did you have to do to adapt to that aside from, I guess hire more people? Did you have to change dishes to get them out faster? What was going on?
Juliana Latif:
Yeah. I think the way we had to streamline things was something we weren't expecting to do. That was a whole new challenge. We were very used to NoMad, where you had a certain amount of covers on the books. You knew exactly how much mise en place you needed. You just kept doing that. As our covers and guest count increased, we had to find a way to mass produce... Mass produce is a harsh word, but mass produce our products and still be able to work to that standard that we wanted.
Kerry Diamond:
Because you're also part of a hotel.
Juliana Latif:
Yes. We are a part-
Kerry Diamond:
Are you doing the room service?
Juliana Latif:
No. We're not. There's actually a separate kitchen for that.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. What's the hotel again?
Juliana Latif:
The Pendry Hotel.
Kerry Diamond:
So you're cooking with Madeline Sperling. Madeline left earlier this year. You are now the executive chef of the restaurant. Congratulations.
Juliana Latif:
Thank you so much.
Kerry Diamond:
You've had quite the trajectory. It's really incredible. What changes did you implement, if any?
Juliana Latif:
I think a lot of changes were very minor, more organizational. We did change a couple of menu items just to streamline. And we haven't changed too much since she's left.
Kerry Diamond:
You had a hand in the original development.
Juliana Latif:
Yes. Yeah. We really worked hand-in-hand together, and it felt like such a strong, good team. We were always on the same page. We always consulted each other. It really was a dream to be able to open that with someone that I felt so confidently in leading with.
But yeah. We haven't changed too much. She had and still has extremely high standards, and that was something I promised her I'd carry on, and that legacy of high standards. And for me, I love maintaining high standards but also at a reasonable stance. So I think I'm trying to morph the two. And it's working, and trying to get people to understand why we do that instead of just, "Here's the standard. Go reach it."
Kerry Diamond:
What do folks need to order when they come to the restaurant?
Juliana Latif:
I would say you definitely need to get the five dip tower. Even if you think you got too much food, you have to try all the dips. The monte is incredible. I would say the lamb chops. Those are my favorite smoked baby lamb chops with a cherry sauce. Super simple and delicious. I love our rice.
And then my personal favorite is the broccoli. Yeah. Our charred broccoli is over the woodfire grill that we have. And it was inspired by Trader Joe's, to be completely honest with you. We needed to come up with a nice, green dish, and Maddie was telling me about how she used to eat steamed broccoli and peanut sauce from Trader Joe's. And that was her go-to meal at the end of work. And so I was like, "Okay. What if we make a cashew harissa? So it's like a spicy peanut sauce, but in our own way." And it is out of this world, I'll tell you.
Kerry Diamond:
Sounds great. Go back to this dip tower. My gosh. It's such a dip moment right now.
Juliana Latif:
Yes it is.
Kerry Diamond:
I don't know what it is. You put a dip on a menu, I will order it.
Juliana Latif:
The funny story about the dips and myself, some of those dips were the first items that I got to R&D when I came to work with Maddie and Chef Craig. On my first day, I was super nervous. And Chef Craig asked me, "Can you just make a hummus and an eggplant dip just like your mom would?" And after that day, the recipe hasn't changed. So I'm very lucky that my mom gave me such a good palate without the recipe because I still got to make something that tasted like her stuff.
Kerry Diamond:
All those dishes sound amazing. Do you change things up seasonally? Does the menu change often?
Juliana Latif:
Yeah. We have one seasonal dip that we rotate in the fall. We had a roasted squash dip with some brown butter. And now in the summer, we have a smoked carrot dip, which is really delicious. We've got a strawberry salad that's seasonal. Yeah. We've got artichokes. We've got a lot of different kinds of vegetables that we rotate in and out.
Kerry Diamond:
Sounds so good. You've seen so many different types of restaurant leadership from how your parents run their place to Disney to NoMad. What are you like as a leader in the kitchen?
Juliana Latif:
I'd like to say that I'm a very approachable leader. I try to create relationships with every single person and figure out why they're here and what their goals are, and whether that's a career cook who is coming to work and doesn't necessarily want to work up the ranks, or a young intern who wants to also be an executive chef one day. And I get to lead people individually, have them put some trust and faith in me that I want to see them grow because at the end of the day, I think that is, aside from serving people food or serving people really good food, I love seeing my team grow and investing in them.
Kerry Diamond:
What brings you joy about being a chef?
Juliana Latif:
I'll have to go back to the people. Being able to watch people grow is a very underrated moment you get to have in your life. And I think people are so focused. I know I've been so focused on my own personal growth that I don't get to pick my head up and realize, "Oh. This person who said they'd never be able to run our woodfire grill is running our woodfire grill." Or, "This person who started off as a dishwasher is leading the team and training other people." It seems so small in day-to-day operations, but it is humongous for me.
Kerry Diamond:
What's your biggest challenge today?
Juliana Latif:
I think the amount of people there are. At Zou Zou's, we have a big team. So like I said, there's a lot of different personalities and a lot of different learning types. So I have to adapt how I do that while maintaining our standards and making sure that everyone knows no matter who you are, we're trying to do this together as a team.
Kerry Diamond:
Is staffing still a challenge?
Juliana Latif:
Thankfully, for us right now, it's not. It definitely was when we opened. I think that comes with just finding out what type of restaurant you are and trying to explain that to people, setting operations in, because it's tough for people to stick around while you're still figuring out how to run the restaurant. But right now we've gotten an incredible crew.
Kerry Diamond:
Aside from Ci Siamo, where do you like to go when you're off-duty?
Juliana Latif:
I live in Brooklyn, so I'm going to Brooklyn a lot. I love to go to Pastafit in Fort Greene, and I also love going to Nura Brooklyn. And I'd have to say Taqueria Ramirez is the top of that list.
Kerry Diamond:
What is your advice for someone looking to become a chef or who wants to work in restaurants today?
Juliana Latif:
My advice would be don't compare yourself to other people. It's very easy to get sidetracked. You're running a race and you keep looking over your shoulder to see what somebody else is doing, you're not going to see all the obstacles in front of you.
Kerry Diamond:
Good advice. One thing I realized when we were doing research on you, you're a mystery online. There is so little information about you. Do you like being under the radar? Where do you see yourself in the restaurant world?
Juliana Latif:
That's a good question. Right now I do like being under the radar. I guess that's just a little bit of fear, being seen as scary, and there's definitely some imposter syndrome floating around in there too. But I do have a lot of relationships with some incredible chefs across the city and in all the boroughs, and I think I'm very open to being seen. I think that'll just be another challenge for me to learn to adapt to and really put a nail down on who I am as a chef.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. So tell us who you are.
Juliana Latif:
Yeah. I guess a lot of it goes back to my family. Every single day, we'd have dinner together. Every single day, we'd have to be respectful about dinner. No phones, appropriate conversation, and stuff like that. But yeah. I think it's a lot from my childhood, just being able to really block off the world and have that moment with your family or with your friends or people you love and care about. And to be able to share a meal together is really intimate, in my eyes. I think the respect for the food too is a lot of what I care about. And being able to just feed somebody is, I don't know, once again, one of the most intimate things you can do. It is definitely my love language. It's really hard to say that and cook for 350 people at night, but it's every single one of those people we have to care about. Every time I touch a dish, it is with the same love that I would cook for my parents or my family and...
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. You have to tell us about the tattoos. You have short sleeves on. They're right there. That's a big tattoo. Tell me about the main tattoo.
Juliana Latif:
This tattoo right here is in Latin. I'm not even going to try to say it out loud because not that good at it. But it comes from a bigger quote. And the quote is, "Be patient. One day, this pain will be useful to you." And that's just been a reminder in and out of kitchens to just keep hustling. I can definitely say now as an executive chef in New York City that it is 100% true.
Kerry Diamond:
And the leaf that's with it, the plant, is that part of the tattoo or is that separate?
Juliana Latif:
That's a little bit separate. It is mint, but everything's going back to my mother. She has a huge mint patch in front of her house, and it is just been one of the fondest childhood memories for me. I'd run out there. I'd grab it. I'd eat it. It's my favorite herb. Anytime I make a dish, I put mint on it and people have to tell me, "Don't put mint on it. There's mint on everything." Yeah. It's just a little reminder. My mom would always take the mint, cut it, make fresh tea for us. And then right before the winter, she'd cut it all dehydrated on the patio, and then save it in our little pantry, and we'd still be able to have tea in the wintertime.
Kerry Diamond:
Beautiful. You've also got all the chef burns, I noticed, to go along with those tattoos, Chef.
Juliana Latif:
Yes. Yeah. These are good reminders from all the times. And when I come home, my brothers are blown away because they work in the little mom and pop shop, and they don't know. They're like, "How do you keep burning yourself? You must be making a lot of mistakes." Yeah. I also come from a big family. I've got eight older brothers and two older sisters.
Kerry Diamond:
Wait. Wait. 11 kids?
Juliana Latif:
11. Yeah. There's 11 of us.
Kerry Diamond:
I'm one of five. 11.
Juliana Latif:
Yeah. So we kept that restaurant running pretty tight for a long time.
Kerry Diamond:
Wow. Wait. Okay. Go back. How many and where are you in the order?
Juliana Latif:
There's eight brothers and there's three sisters. I am the baby of them all.
Kerry Diamond:
Stop.
Juliana Latif:
Yes. There's two older sisters, and then eight boys, and then myself. And my favorite joke that my father used to make was, "I just wanted a third daughter." And so he had two girls, and they were going to have a third daughter, and they kept trying until I came.
Kerry Diamond:
Wow. You really are the baby.
Juliana Latif:
Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. So I'm one of five. I now have a spreadsheet with all the birthdays of the parents, the siblings, everybody, because I just can't keep them all straight. And I feel like this year has been all high school graduation, college graduation, this and that. How do you keep it straight?
Juliana Latif:
My sisters used to make calendars for us. And now there's too many of us. Thankfully we're all still pretty close and in touch. So if I ever have a question, I just ask.
Kerry Diamond:
How many nieces and nephews do you have?
Juliana Latif:
I have 16 nieces and nephews.
Kerry Diamond:
Gosh. Okay. Well, that is fascinating. Well, no wonder the restaurant's popular. You could just fill it with your family members.
Juliana Latif:
Exactly.
Kerry Diamond:
It would be busy all the time. Kidding. It's a big restaurant. 300 covers is a lot. All right. Let's do a little speed round. One of your favorite books on food, or cookbook.
Juliana Latif:
I would say the “Whole Fish” by Josh Niland.
Kerry Diamond:
Best food movie.
Juliana Latif:
“Chef.”
Kerry Diamond:
Favorite kitchen tool.
Juliana Latif:
An offset spatula.
Kerry Diamond:
One thing that's always in your fridge at home.
Juliana Latif:
Oat milk.
Kerry Diamond:
Favorite childhood food.
Juliana Latif:
Grape leaves.
Kerry Diamond:
Snack food of choice.
Juliana Latif:
Rice Krispie Treats.
Kerry Diamond:
Today?
Juliana Latif:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
The Rice Krispie Treats. I love that. Do people make them for you?
Juliana Latif:
No. Just the OG blue package Rice Krispie Treat.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. Footwear of choice in the kitchen.
Juliana Latif:
Birkenstocks.
Kerry Diamond:
Birks. Okay. Any motto or mantra that get you through the day, aside from what's tattooed on your arm there?
Juliana Latif:
I usually say, "Leave it better than you found it at work."
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. If you had to be stuck on a desert island with one food celebrity, who would it be and why?
Juliana Latif:
I'm so excited to answer this one. Gordon Ramsay. I think the why there is I grew up watching him and everyone knows him as this crazy chef. Every time I've watched him... I've actually met him. He came to eat at Zou Zou's. It was incredible. But every time he's said something criticizing to people, it's been for a reason. When he's genuine, he's genuine. When he's harsh, he's harsh. And I would love to be able to pick that brain.
Kerry Diamond:
I love it. All right. Well, Gordon's the answer. It's been so nice getting to know you. And I can't wait. Now that I know you are the person in the kitchen, I can't wait to come eat there more often. Thank you for your time today.
Juliana Latif:
Thank you so much.
Kerry Diamond:
That's it for today's show. Want to stay on top of all things Cherry Bombe? Sign up for our free newsletter at cherrybombe.com. Learn about the week's podcast guests, upcoming events, and fun news from the world of restaurants, cookbooks, cake artistry, and more. Our theme song is by the band Tralala. Joseph Hazan is the studio engineer for Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center, where I recorded my interview with Juliana. And special thanks to our friends at Outpost Studios in San Francisco. Our producer is Catherine Baker. Our associate producer is Jenna Sadhu, and our editorial assistant is London Crenshaw. Thanks for listening. You are the Bombe.