Botanica x Eclipse: Cocoa Black Sesame Tahini | Plant-Based

THE FLAVOR:
Rich, velvety chocolate with Black Sesame Tahini. 

ABOUT THE CHEFS:
Heather Sperling, Co-Owner - Heather is the co-owner of Botanica, a Los Angeles restaurant & market devoted to sustainable products, vegetable-centric cooking, and natural wine. Her philosophy of nourishing hospitality evolved from 30-plus years experimenting in the kitchen, a decade eating for a living, and a genuine desire to support her community through food. She served an editor for two culinary websites and has written about food for a host of publications, consulted for chefs and market makers, attended culinary conferences in four continents and, of course, eaten her way around the globe – for work and for fun.

 Heather’s love of vibrant, vegetable-centric cookery is lifelong, informed by Lebanese heritage and a stint in India as a child. It grew (and grew, and grew) during her years as a restaurant-focused writer and editor, as she became tired of overwrought restaurant food, the industry’s insubstantial focus on local and sustainable sourcing, and the lack of community-oriented, mission-driven restaurants. Botanica is her response: An ambitious restaurant devoted to thoughtful sourcing, healthful cooking, sustainability, inclusion, and respect.

Zarah Khan, Chef - Originally from Seattle, WA Zarah’s passion for food started at a young age, learning to bake with her dad as a little kid and cooking for weekly dinners for her family beginning at age thirteen. In college studying environmental science and forestry at the University of Washington, she would stay up researching recipes and dish ideas late into the night.

 Throughout her studies she was struck by how human impact on the planet is most damaging through our food systems. She decided that she wanted her cooking to connect people to the environment they live in, and inspire people to become more cognizant of the choices they make a minimum of 3x a day. After graduating, she decided to dedicate herself to learning in professional kitchens, starting first in pastry and then expanding to savory. She spent several years throughout her twenties working on farms both domestically and abroad. Always inspired most by the hard work and passion of farmers, she has been known to parade an especially bright leaf of rainbow chard around the restaurant to show the whole team and get them as hyped as she is about it.

She has worked under Seattle chefs Jerry Traunfeld of the Herbfarm and Autumn Martin of Hotcakes and Frankie & Jo’s, both of whom have greatly influenced her commitment to local organic product and prolific use of herbs. Her first executive chef job was at the esteemed Matt Dillon restaurant The London Plane in Seattle, where she made a name for herself with her bright, flavorful, veg-forward cuisine inspired by her Middle Eastern heritage.

CHARITY:
All proceeds go to No Us Without You LA, a non-profit providing food security for undocumented Back Of House Staff and their families. Undocumented hospitality workers are the backbone of the hospitality industry. They are unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are not eligible for unemployment benefits even though they’re taxed every paycheck.