Southeast Asian

Mike Alesi and Jennifer Pou-Alesi got married just before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world. They decided to start cooking the food of Pou-Alesi's home country of Malaysia, a story recounted in a new short film. 

At his Chicago restaurant Hermosa, Ethan Lim offers Cambodian-inspired sandwiches during the day and a "Family Meal" multi-course private dining menu at night. He's the subject of a new American Masters profile. 

Mona Sang opened Khmai Fine Dining, one of two Cambodian restaurants in Chicago, to share the recipes and culture of her mother, who fled the Khmer Rouge genocide and ended up in Chicago, where she supported herself and four children as a caterer. 

Prahok ktiss reminds the owner of one of Chicago's only Cambodian restaurants of childhood, when her mother would make it. Now it's one of her favorite dishes, and available at Khmai Fine Dining in Rogers Park.