Chef Mehreen Karim Craves the Same Breakfast Every Day
The Muslim-American chef talks about very bright shoes, the glass bowl she found in Paris, and a fancy fish filet sandwich.
Hello! How’s your week going? First off, thank you for all the cute hype comments on last week’s dating post. (“I literally squealed out of pure joy when he put his hand ON YOUR BACK,” wrote Juliann.) I’m so grateful for your encouragement during the ups and downs of the past year!
Today, our newsletter editor Kaitlyn interviewed
, the Brooklyn-based chef who loves colorful shoes and fish filet sandwiches. Here goes… Joannaxo*****
Chef Mehreen Karim, who also goes by Reenie, started her career in public health (with a food blog on the side) until a friend encouraged her to apply to Bon Appetit. “The only reason it happened is because my friend saw the possibilities in me before I could see them myself,” she says. Now, she writes the
newsletter and has a plant-based Southern food cookbook in the works.Here, Reenie shares 14 surprises and delights…
Events: I love doing pop-ups and restaurant residencies. Last summer, I did a series of pop-ups called South by South Asian, which perfectly captures my food identities. My parents are Bangladeshi, and I grew up in Marietta, Georgia, so I made Southern fare with Bengali flavors. I also wore a custom embroidered apron that said ‘Reenie’s’ (my sister made it — she also made my wedding dress!). I’m about to announce a residency I’ll be doing in May at a restaurant in Brooklyn.
Reality TV: The best part of competing on Gordon Ramsay’s reality show Next Level Chef was entering an environment where my only responsibility was to cook as well as I could for 40 minutes a day. It was such an intense, focused experience, almost like a retreat for me to practice cooking.
Movie: I first watched Before Sunrise when I was 15. Julie Delpy’s character says, ‘If there's any kind of magic in this world, it must be in the attempt of understanding someone sharing something. I know, it's almost impossible to succeed, but who cares really? The answer must be in the attempt.’ Now, I include that quote on postcards at my pop-up events. It’s become a benchmark for how I approach and cook for other people.
Treat: I am the ‘Monica’ of our friend group, so we often host dinner parties at our place. I want my friends to feel like they can pop over any time and I’ll feed them. I keep rolls and rolls of cookie dough in the freezer. My mom, who inspires a lot of my cooking, actually makes the cookie dough and gives it to me whenever I visit. I’m very spoiled, because my sense in life is that cookies are available at any given moment!
Shoes: I always wear shoes that add a pop of color. When I was filming Next Level Chef in London, I bought a pair of lime green rain boots, and I’ve never gotten more compliments. They’re now out of stock, so my new go-to is a pair of butter yellow sneakers.
Jewelry: For Valentine’s Day, my husband, Rais, gave me a simple gold necklace with a strawberry charm, because I love wearing fruit. We met on Instagram — we had mutual friends — and we’ve now been together for seven years.
