Reem Assil: From Activism to Arab Bakery Pioneer and Worker-Owner Visionary
Palestinian-Syrian chef Reem Assil builds community through Arab street-bakery cuisine, cultural storytelling, and a groundbreaking worker-owned model.
Chef Reem Assil uniquely blends her passions for food, community, and social justice. Born to Palestinian and Syrian immigrant parents and raised in a Boston suburb, she grew up immersed in vibrant Arab household traditions while navigating the complexities of American identity.
For over a decade, Assil worked as a community and labor organizer, championing living wages, affordable housing, and workers’ rights. In 2010, a transformative trip through Lebanon and Syria inspired her to channel her heritage into food—particularly the communal energy she witnessed in Arab street-corner bakeries.
She trained in baking and pastry at Laney College, worked at Arizmendi Bakery & Pizzeria and Grace Street Catering, and completed La Cocina’s women-of-color food business incubator program. This journey culminated in opening Reem’s California, a bakery-restaurant rooted in Arab street hospitality, first in Oakland and later in San Francisco’s Mission District.
Recognition & Awards
Assil’s culinary voice quickly resonated with critics and diners alike:
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Named “Rising Star Chef” by the San Francisco Chronicle (2017)
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SF Magazine’s Chef of the Year (2018)
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James Beard Foundation Semifinalist for Best Chef: West (2018–19)
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Finalist for Outstanding Chef (2022)
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Featured among Food & Wine’s “Restaurants of the Year”
Food, Identity & Storytelling
Reem’s California serves Arab street food with a California touch. Warm, fresh-baked pita, mana’eesh, dips, and pastries evoke the bakery life of Damascus or Beirut—spaces where community and comfort thrive amid turmoil.
In 2022, she released Arabiyya: Recipes from the Life of an Arab in Diaspora, a cookbook infused with personal essays and over 100 recipes that honor her diasporic identity and culinary heritage.
Visionary Leadership & Worker-Ownership
Assil’s vision extends beyond the plate. Drawing on her activist roots, she is pioneering a worker-owned cooperative model for her business. Through Sumoud—a 15-month apprenticeship program—she prepares her staff to transition Reem’s into an employee-run co-op, a rare structure among U.S. restaurants.
In mid-2025, she announced plans to reopen Reem’s in Oakland’s Jack London Square as a worker-owned central commissary and café, supporting wholesale operations and future kiosk-style outposts across the Bay Area .
