Evadi Hamasa (27) and her parents Hamida (58) and Attic (60) opened a small restaurant in their former bubble tea shop in the fall of 2020. And Assad Akbari, a former Helmand general manager and chef, announced plans to open his own Afghan restaurant on the same street this year.
Evadi said she came to the United States for high school in 2010. “I wanted to continue my education, but under the Taliban, women were simply not allowed,” she said. Today, Evadi commute between Baltimore and Dallas, where she works as a neuroscience researcher.
With the Taliban’s return to power and its continued conquest of women, one restaurant owner, Omar Masurua, Symbolic action.. Last September, 47-year-old Masroor left his family’s restaurant management. Bistro Arakosia In Washington, and Arakosia McLean When Afghan bistro In Northern Virginia — and promoted two of his daughters, Tarija (23) and Iman (22), to managerial positions.
Today, the sisters are primarily performing surgery with their mother, Sophia, 46, who oversees the restaurant’s diet. In Afghanistan, sisters are denied the role because the Taliban give women little freedom outside the home. The family plans to open a fourth restaurant in Afghani, Georgetown, and her youngest daughter, Zaynab, 21, is also training to become a manager.
“We feel scared of the situation for women in Afghanistan,” Sophia said. “In order for my daughters to know that we are confident and that we believe in them, it gives them a little push to make themselves confident. increase.”
Richmond’s restaurateur, Nouri, was trained as a chef in Kabul. After arriving in Virginia, he did a variety of low-paying jobs, including driving for boarding services.