and then we explain it that mutabbel is baba ghanoush, but i insist to serve my customer the right thing from palestine. everyone has to get start knowing what's palestinian food. they're gonna love it, don't worry. and so it's giving us a chance to introduce my country. it's my homeland. it's my culture. it's my food. it's my peace i'm bringing to the world. [train whistle blowing] assil: i had connected with the alta group, which is a group of daniel patterson, who's a michelin star chef. i pitched the idea of arab hospitality, the cuisine of the levant, where my family is from--syrian, palestinian, lebanese, and jordanian cuisine--in a fine dining setting. this is samaka harra, which means spicy fish in arabic. on every arab table, you can't go without a whole roasted fish. we're right here on the waterfront in oakland, and so we wanted to use pacific ocean fish, so this is a rock cod fish. daniel patterson: she had this kind of emotional intensity that jumps off the plate, which i think very, very few chefs have. so, like, the second i went to her restaurant and i started eating, i'm