The Secret to Food Rooted in Love with Nyesha Arrington

 What’s the secret to preparing delicious, nutritious food rooted in love? In this episode, Ruben welcomes a chef like no other — one you may have seen standing next to Gordon Ramsey and Richard Blais. 

Chef Nyesha Arrington, a Southern California native who has been featured on a variety of high-profile media outlets for her accomplishments in the culinary industry, enters the Live Through Love studio to discuss love and food.

Nyesha contends that food, aside from being a necessity, is “the ultimate connector.” It is something that brings people together in one space and transcends any notion of race or creed. Food itself carries with it a unique heritage, and one could even say that eating is living history in action. 

She goes on to speak about her passion to cook “food that hugs the soul” and how she is working to make healthy eating more widely accessible. One major way Nyesha does this is by educating people — especially People of Color — on how to prepare healthy yet delicious dishes by themselves without breaking the bank. 

“Cooking is 100% my love language. Truly, cooking found me. I’m an artist, and food is my medium of self-expression.” - Nyesha Arrington 

How do you live out love through your strongest medium of self-expression?

About the Guest: Chef Nyesha J. Arrington has been in love with the kitchen since cooking alongside her Grandmother at a young age. The Southern California native has been featured on a variety of high-profile media outlets for her accomplishments in the culinary industry.Nyesha owns and operates a full-service Chef consulting and catering business while  traveling around the globe for speaking engagements and dinner collaborations.

During Arrington's tenure as Executive Chef at Wilshire restaurant in Santa Monica from 2011-2013, she was named a Rising Star by Brad Johnson, then the restaurant critic of Angeleno.She has been featured in Restaurant Hospitality, on StarChefs.com and was a guest chef at the popular Test Kitchen restaurant in 2011.

In 2011, Nyesha has appeared simultaneously on two reality cooking shows as a "cheftestant"--Top Chef and Food Network's series,Chef Hunter, where she won the competition. In 2012, Nyesha was recognized by Zagat.com as one of the 30 Under 30-–LA's Hottest Up-And-Comers as well as Where LA's top talent under 30.

She was also profiled in theLA Weekly'sPeople issue as one of the most 69 interesting people to watch in 2012. She has also appeared on KTLA and Good Food on KCRW. In 2013 she won the cooking competition showKnife Fight on Esquire Network and later returned toKnife Fight in 2014 as a Guest Chef Judge.  As of 2022 she can be seen onNext Level Chef with Gordon Ramsay and Richard Blais on Fox.

About the Host: Ruben Rojas is a Los Angeles based artist, activist, designer, speaker, and entrepreneur who uses art to inspire others to see through the lens of LOVE. By using the urban landscape as his canvas, Ruben encourages communities to change for the better through optimism and collaboration. Once vacant walls, and now this podcast, are vibrant reminders created to inspire you to dream big, feel beautiful, live in possibility, and to love. Ruben’s murals can be seen in cities across the country and around the world from Paris to New York and Florida to Mississippi. You can also bring love home by buying his art.

This is an Operation Podcast production. For more information, please contact us at info@operationpodcast.com. Follow Operation Podcast on Instagram.