Shaina Loew-Banayan

Loew-Banayan, who is the chef and owner of Cafe Mutton in Hudson, New York (the kind of no-frills joint that specifies, “We don’t have fucking breakfast sandwiches” in its Instagram bio), started working in kitchens as a teenager, eventually putting in time everywhere from Eleven Madison Park to Prune. Their story of being alternately seduced and horrified by food, and by the restaurant industry in general, is also one that feels particularly timely. (The Bear, anyone?) Still, there’s something timeless about Loew-Banayan’s story, exploring what it means for people who are not cis-het white men to occupy the kind of space—in restaurant kitchens, and even in their own bodies—that their carefree counterparts thoughtlessly take up.