laura: for kwaa, who immigrated to the u.s.m ghana in 1997, and rai, who came from nepal in 2002, it all starts with the menu. >> i want the food industry to respect black and brown immigrant food. laura: designed with the look and feel of a culinary magazine, customers can learn about okra's origins in africa, or that their yassa chicken is an example of single pot cooking that has sustained civilizations for centuries. >> if you're able to connect people, culture, to the food, it makes it more meaningful. we're not only looking to tell the stories of those ingredients and those cooking methods, but we're looking to tell the stories of the folks that are behind those ingredients. laura: like many other immigrants, the pair found an access point to america in the food industry, where they worked together in various jobs for more than a decade, including running pop-up restaurants during the pandemic. but in january, together with a local nonprofit, they finished converting this historic building once used by streetcar riders en