Name: Sarah Chouari
Restaurant: Alice & Co.
Title: Artist in the kitchen, aka, amateur chef

Faves
Chef: Jamie Oliver
Cooking show: Chef’s Table
Cookbook: Most recently, Deliciously Ella

What experience most defined your decision and desire to get into the food industry?
At some point in my life, after graduating from art school, I joined the Wilton school of baking and art decoration. I’ve always looked at food in general as a medium of art, and not a profession.

What do you love the most about your current job?
Honestly, the freedom to play. The process of trying out different taste pairings, textures and colors is what makes the kitchen more of a studio station.

Where is your favorite place to shop for food and ingredients in Kuwait?
Finding fresh and unprocessed substitutes has been a bit of challenge, but we mainly work with a local distributor for fruits, veggies and cheeses, Lulu Hypermarket and the mountains of Lebanon for our base ingredients like oils, nuts etc.

What food most reminds you of your family’s house, and why?
I grew up eating two different cuisines at home, traditional Lebanese and Tunisian dishes. So Anything with rice and a stew, or couscous as a base, reminds me of home.

When you want to go somewhere else to eat, where do you go and why?
Fish Market on 4th ring road. I don’t ever cook fish, or seafood in general, so I usually go there whenever I crave it. For other cravings, like Indian food or Japanese, I order in. Not into dine-ins as much.

Who in the world would you most like to cook for?
Jamie Oliver. He inspires me a lot and I’d like to cook some twists for him.

Name 3 ingredients that start with the first letter of your name.
Sage, salmon, spaghetti.

What do you think will be the biggest food trend of 2019?
Tofu! Chefs are getting creative with Tofu making, and lots of interesting dishes have been created.