‘In the Weeds’: Pastry chef Cathy Asapahu reflects on her family’s sacrifices

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Cathy Asapahu has a foot in two worlds, or at least two restaurants. Until the pandemic disrupted everything, she was a pastry chef at Providence, the city’s most well-known fine dining establishment. Yet, she grew up in a restaurant family and now she finds herself back in the kitchen alongside her sister Vanda at the family’s lauded restaurant Ayara Thai in Westchester. She joins us for this week’s edition of “In the Weeds.


Goong Op Woon Sen/Claypot Baked Prawns. Photo courtesy of Ayara Thai.


COVID protocols at Ayara Thai include monthly testing and an Alexa alert every 30 minutes, reminding employees to sanitize their stations and change their gloves. Photo courtesy of Ayara Thai.


Cathy Asapahu had no intentions of working in her family’s restaurant, where she creates the desserts. All of her siblings have forgone their college degrees and have stepped in to take the reins. Photo courtesy of Ayara Thai.

Credits

Host:

Evan Kleiman