Chefs Sara Kramer and Sara Hymanson moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 2015 and opened a small cafe in Grand Central Market, then opened Kismet in Los Feliz two years later, serving dishes like Persian crispy rice, fried cauliflower, and artichoke hearts with butter beans and tarragon. Wanting to focus on takeout, they opened a rotisserie chicken joint in January 2020. Yes, we’re talking Kismet, because a few months later, the COVID-19 pandemic saw customers switch from dining in to takeout. Kramer and Hymanson now operate three Kismet Rotisserie locations in Southern California and have published a new cookbook featuring family recipes and favorite dishes from their Kismet empire.
“Kismet” features calamari with roasted broccoli. Photo by Chris Bernabeo.
Kramer said their food has Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Californian influences, and she gets many of her culinary ideas from her mother, who is of South American, Middle Eastern, North African and Spanish descent.
“My mother has a very diverse palate, and her cupboards have always been full of things that were very mysterious to me, but over time I’ve learned more and more about it. I was very lucky to have had a very delicious childhood, and I think that’s still a big connecting point in our family, that we can all agree on what good food is,” Kramer says.
Meanwhile, Hymanson, who is of Eastern European and Jewish American descent and grew up in downtown Chicago, said he personally draws inspiration from Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian and Cambodian cuisines.
“Kismet” features Chicken Schnitzel with Giardiniera. Photo by Chris Bernabeo.
When it comes to cooking any dish, “the devil is in the details,” Kramer emphasizes.
“I can make anything simple. [turn out] “Something that you think is easy can end up being great, or something that you think is easy can end up being awful, so even if you think it’s easy, I recommend giving it a little extra attention,” Kramer advises.
The book has a chapter on tahini, and Kramer calls it a versatile sauce: “A lot of people don’t know the difference between tahini paste and tahini sauce, but they’re two completely different things. … When you mix tahini paste with water, lemon juice, garlic and salt, you get a really tasty, really flavorful sauce that goes with everything.”
Some dishes she pairs with tahini sauce include kumquats in syrup, Calabrian chili peppers with olives, chocolate chip cookies and milk chocolate tarts.
Tahini with Green Olives is part of the “Kismet” cookbook. Photo by Chris Bernabeo.
Green olives and Calabrian chili tahini
make 3 cups
This is a slightly spicy dish and is probably our favorite tahini topping. It packs quite a punch and is the perfect addition to any deli sandwich.
material
- 1 cup pitted green olives, such as Castelvetrano, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds, coarsely ground in a spice grinder or mortar
- Garlic (grated on a microplane)
- 2 tablespoons bottled Calabrian chiles (chopped)
- Grated rind of half an orange
- 3 tablespoons orange juice
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup parsley leaves
- Classic Tahini Sauce 2 cups (page 116)
Instructions
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Place olives in a small heatproof bowl.
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Combine the olive oil, bay leaves, coriander, and garlic in a small saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until the garlic sizzles, about 5 minutes.
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Add the Calabrian chiles and orange zest and cook, stirring occasionally, for a further 2 to 3 minutes.
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Mix orange juice and vinegar together and mix.
olives. Remove the bay leaves and allow to cool. -
To serve, fold in the parsley leaves and spoon on top of the tahini sauce.
Classic Tahini Sauce
make 2 cups
Tahini is a bit strong, so it’s not something you’d eat straight from the jar. Adding water changes the texture completely, turning it into a thick, creamy sauce. Add in some salt, lemon, and garlic, and you’ve got the classic tahini sauce (or dip, spread, whatever you want to call it).
material
- 1 cup tahini
- 1 garlic clove (grated on a microplane)
- ¼ cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
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Stir the tahini (like you would when separating peanut butter) before measuring to make sure it’s uniform. Combine in a medium bowl with the garlic, lemon juice, and salt and whisk to combine.
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Slowly add 1⅔ cup water to the tahini mixture, whisking vigorously until the mixture is completely smooth and lightly aerated.
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Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Sarah Kramer and Sarah Hymanson are co-authors of “Kismet.” Photo by Chris Bernabeo. Courtesy of Penguin Random House.
