Food is really nothing without place in people.

So talking about these other major cities, Sacramento and L.A. and, you know, other settlements of where African Americans were and what was taking place there, you know, was a no-brainer.

And then I always like to show the people who have come before me and had interesting stories.

Hi, I'm Lalei Aricoglu and this is Women Who Travel.

Today is the start of a three-week series where we slow things down a little bit

and explore things like cooking, gardening and self-care in its many forms.

We kick off with legendary restaurant owner, cookbook author, chef and community activist Tanya Holland.

She's somewhat of a culinary celebrity thanks to her days on top chef, and her Oakland

restaurant, Brown Sugar Kitchen, became a focal point of the Bay Area community during its

almost 15-year tenure. Now, she has a gorgeous new cookbook out.

Your beautiful book, California Soul, it is like maybe the most beautiful cookbook I've ever

seen. It is so, so gorgeous from the photography, but also the content and the recipes and the storytelling in it is

really spectacular. So we will dive into all of that. But first, I want to really rewind.

What role did the South play in your life growing up? I think the South was always just

where my parents felt connected to and where their family was mostly based.

So it was just always like around, you know, especially when I thought of my grandparents.

What that meant was like a slower pace of life, just a more comfort home.

And just always about food, really, like what they were cooking,

what we would eat when we would go down south.

You know, my parents would make efforts to, like, you know, the whole itinerary was planned

around the meals.

Like all good trips.

...