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Daniel Shemtob: Rebuilding, Community and World Central Kitchen

Taste Buds with Deb - Episode 91
[additional-authors]
January 23, 2025
Daniel Shemtob and Tyler Florence

The wildfires have had an impact on everyone in the Los Angeles area, whether someone was evacuated, lost their home and/or business, or felt the repercussions in some other way. It’s a long road to recovery, and many Angelenos — even and especially those who need to rebuild — want to help.

Chef and restaurateur Daniel Shemtob is one of those people.

His home burned down in the Palisades fire and he is one of many local chefs teaming with José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen (WCK) to feed those displaced by the fires and first responders.

The remains of his house

“It’s been crazy, dealing with the consequences of losing your home, losing all your stuff, dealing with insurance, finding a new place to live and [having] a pregnant wife who is stressed out,” Shemtob told The Journal. “[I’m also] a business owner, [wanting] to give back to the community; I think that that’s the necessary step in rebuilding.”

Shemtob, the all-star winner of Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race” with The Lime Truck, as well as the chef behind Downtown LA’s Hatch Yakitori, co-founder of Snibbs footwear company and author of “Food Truck Mogul,” lost his mom and his businesses during COVID, and has been in a similar position before.

“I remembered when I was going through all of that, years back, the first time I started to feel better was when I was able to give back to the community,” Shemtob said. “I started to snap out of it much quicker this time, which I’m really grateful for.”

Shemtob said he could think about all he lost when both his and his brother’s houses burned down, including mementos from their late mother. Or he could feel blessed that his pregnant wife was safe and they were surrounded by loved ones.

That was Friday, Jan. 10.

“It all clicked and it was like a bolt of lightning … and I just went into action,” he said. “That was the first moment since losing our home, since me riding my bicycle back through the Palisades and seeing everything turned to ash … that I felt whole or at least as whole as I could.”

The next day, when Shemtob went back to his food truck, he was greeted by Tyler Florence, host of “The Great Food Truck Race.”

“I have a deep personal relationship with Tyler, having been on his show so many times,” he said. “Tyler’s kind of the people’s chef.”

Florence was on the line with Shemtob, making tacos; they served 500 people in 90 minutes that first day.

“We were serving delicious food … and I just felt that good energy of taking care of others,” Shemtob said. “That felt really nice.”

Because of WCK and the chef corps setting up around Los Angeles, people are getting nourishment, but also engaging, talking and commiserating.

“We’re laughing and we’re crying; it’s all the things that you go through when you go through a shared tragedy with others,” Shemtob said. “I’m so proud of our [selfless] hospitality community.”

This is not Shemtob’s first encounter with WCK. He consulted with them to help them build food trucks overseas. Plus, they worked together on a collaborative shoe for his footwear business, Snibbs; 10% of gross revenue from it went to the charity.

“I’ve always been a supporter of WCK from afar, knowing that in the case of an emergency, what they do is so beautiful, because they provide the community with food,” said Shemtob, who was glad to be involved. “Every memory that I have with my family and all the things that I love and cherish are around food; it’s around a table, it’s around breaking bread, it’s the most age-old tradition.”

When asked about the role of food in healing, Shemtob said, “What is food? Why do restaurants exist? Why is there hospitality? Why is there Shabbat dinner? … Food is such a part of our culture and life because it brings people together.”

In terms of recovery, so many things need to be fixed; you need to clear the debris and get rid of the toxin before rebuilding can begin.

“If we can band together, which I’m seeing 110 percent we can, then we have the foundation to do all the other stuff,” he said. “Food is that essential foundation.”

You need to make people feel good enough to start thinking about starting over.

“If you told me to start thinking about rebuilding my life [days after the fire], I’ll tell you, ‘No way,’” he said. “But after I was able to feed people and get fed and really nourish myself and others, I started to think about what the future for me and my wife is going to look like.”

For those who want to learn more — whether you need help, want to help or both — follow @wckitchen. You can also reach out to @damiel.shemtob and others from the chef corps on Instagram, to see if they need any assistance. Shemtob, who you can email at daniel@danielshemtob.com, is already working on ways to help those impacted in the long-term.

“If you have the capital, donate; if you have the time, volunteer, and if you don’t have either of those, just send a nice message to someone affected by the fires,” Shemtob said. “I have [received] so many messages… it’s so nice to know that so many people are thinking about me or I’m in their thoughts and prayers; it feels like a warm hug, even from afar.”

Check out the Taste Buds conversation with Daniel Shemtob on Snibbs, Hospitality and Matzo Pizza.

For the full conversation, listen to the podcast:


Debra Eckerling is a writer for the Jewish Journal and the host of “Taste Buds with Deb.Subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform. Email Debra: tastebuds@jewishjournal.com.

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