'Your Sexual Orientation Can't Decide What You're Capable Of'

Tara Monsod, the executive chef of Animae, talks about being a gay Asian woman in a professional restaurant kitchen.

Tara Monsod grew up in Palmdale, outside Los Angeles, but spent a big part of her youth in the San Fernando Valley. In San Diego, she worked at Juniper and Ivy, and in 2020, the Filipina worked as a sous chef at Animae, a San Diego-based Filipino steakhouse. In 2021, she replaced renowned chef Nate Appleman as executive chef there. Since rising to her role, she’s made it her mission to diversify the staff and bring fine-dining Filipino cuisine to the area. For this edition of Voices in Food, Monsod talked to Garin Pirnia about changing the culture of the restaurant, and, as a member of the LGBTQ community, how we need to talk to one another more.

Before me, you had two white guys doing Asian food [at Animae]. I respect both of them and their craft. Chef Nate was very knowledgeable with Asian food. But at the same time, it’s very different when you have an Asian person making Asian food. And with any culture, when you start to create food that you grew up with, it hits differently, right?