Camille Cogswell is the Executive Chef of K'Far. For the past four years, Cogswell has held the role of Pastry Chef of Zahav, Philadelphia’s landmark Israeli restaurant from five-time James Beard Award winning chef/owner, Michael Solomonov, and three-time James Beard Award winning restaurateur, Steven Cook, of CookNSolo Restaurants. In May of 2018, Camille was named the 2018 James Beard Foundation Award’s "Rising Star Chef” becoming only the second pastry chef to be given the honor. In May of 2019, Zahav was awarded "Outstanding Restaurant" by the James Beard Award Foundation. Growing up in Asheville, North Carolina, cooking first peaked Camille’s interest in high school when a love of both chemistry and culinary arts led her to discover the magic of science in cooking. After completing an internship at a local bakery, she broadened her pastry experience in Chapel Hill and Portland, Oregon before enrolling in The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. As part of earning her degree in Baking and Pastry Arts, she completed a coveted internship in the pastry kitchen of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Chef Dan Barber's landmark restaurant on an educational farm. Upon graduation, Camille moved to New York City where she honed her skills in Chef Daniel Humm's Michelin-starred restaurant, The Nomad. In December of 2015, Camille relocated to Philadelphia to lead the pastry program at Zahav. Despite having been away from the South for a number of years, Camille says there is still nothing more comforting to her than baking a pie.
Reem Kassis is a Palestinian writer. Her debut cookbook, The Palestinian Table, was nominated for a James Beard award, short-listed for the Andre Simon Award and the Edward Stanford Award, and won The Guild of Food Writers First Book Award. The book was named one of NPR’s best books of 2017 and has been featured in The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, CNN, Saveur, The Guardian, and Travel + Leisure, among others. Born and raised in Jerusalem, Reem holds two undergraduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from Wharton and an MSc in social psychology from The London School of Economics. A former McKinsey consultant, today Reem is using the power of food and storytelling to share the Palestinian narrative with the world. She is currently working on her second cookbook about the evolving and cross-cultural food of the Middle East.
A conversation moderated by:
Hallie Applebaum collaborates with award-winning female chefs worldwide, from Los Angeles to Mexico City to Tel Aviv, to host a monthly women's event series called FUTURE OF WOMEN featuring game-changing women such as Olympic athletes, Emmy-winning producers, top Billboard musicians, and New York Times journalists on topics including architecture, sports, art, music, journalism, and human rights. Previously, Hallie worked at the World Bank advising policymakers, universities, museums, and tech companies across Latin American, Europe, the Middle East, and the US on best practices for creating and fostering entrepreneurship programs. She has also consulted for IBM in Brazil and Wells Fargo Advisors. Hallie's work has been featured in publications by MIT, World Bank, and World Economic Forum. She holds a Masters from the London School of Economics and Political Science and is based in Los Angeles.
