San Francisco restaurants open kitchens to refugee chefs

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Five restaurants in San Francisco have opened their kitchens for the first time to a program that allows refugees aspiring to be chefs to showcase their cuisines and culinary skills.

The Refugee Food Festival kicked off in the city Tuesday with a woman who fled Myanmar presenting dishes from her homeland at the popular Hog Island Oyster Co. restaurant. It ended Saturday at Jardiniere, where a refugee from Senegal cooked.

Refugees from Iraq, Bhutan and Syria presented their foods at three other restaurants.

The event began in 2016 in Paris. It came to the U.S. for the first time this year, with restaurants in New York also participating.

Organizers say the goal is to help the refugees succeed as chefs and raise awareness about the condition of refugees worldwide.

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