WASHINGTON — A D.C. startup is bringing the best home-cooking in the world to your doorstep.
Foodhini is a collective of immigrants and refugees who are building new lives by sharing the foods they know and love best.
CEO and founder Noobsta Vang said he was inspired by the home cooking he grew up eating as the child of refugees.
"When my parents arrived in the U.S., they didn’t speak English, education was very difficult for them, they had very little, so it was tough to find good work to support themselves and their families," Vang said.
Vang said however hard the circumstances, the food was always delicious. He wanted to give immigrants and refugees a space to share their knowledge, as well as an opportunity to build a career in their new country.
"These individuals, these communities already know how to make this food better than anyone else," Vang said. "We should create this space for them, like my mom and my dad, so people can work and use the skill-sets they have -- to earn a good living and create sustainable jobs."
Mina Alipour came to the U.S. as a refugee from Iran just three years ago. Alipour said she has enjoyed introducing people to the food of her home country.
"It makes me happy to look at the faces, to look at the customers," Alipou said.
Foodhini’s chefs -- both trained and home-schooled -- hail from Eritrea, Laos, Iran and Syria.
It offers a catering service and meal delivery anywhere in the District, as well as Arlington and Takoma Park, Md. It's also been offering up food at the Foggy Bottom Whole Foods, with plans to expand to two other D.C. locations.
"There’s a lot of things that are driving people apart, but I think one of the things that food is able to do is that it’s able to bring people together," Vang said.