Shebrew in the City
Shebrew in the City is a podcast exploring all things Jewish. Combining interviews and informational episodes, join Nicole Kelly as she discusses her journey with motherhood, spirituality, and everything from Hanukkah to the Holocaust. Giving a voice to modern Jews and spreading love and joy, whether you're Jewish, Jew-ish, or not anything resembling Jewish at all, there's something here for everyone.
Shebrew in the City
"La Vita è Bella" - An Interview with Remi Attia
What if your heritage could guide your entrepreneurial journey? Join us as we sit down with Remi Attia, a dynamic entrepreneur with Jewish and Italian roots, who shares how her multicultural upbringing in Los Angeles shaped her path. From a "Legally Blonde" themed bat mitzvah to launching her brand, The Nosh Table, Remy gives us a delightful glimpse into how cultural milestones and family gatherings have left an indelible mark on her identity. She opens up about her transition from hospitality to interior design and how her new venture is a celebration of tradition through playful dinnerware that bridges her rich heritage with modern aesthetics.
Ever wondered what it takes to blend art, culture, and business into a unique venture? Discover the intricate world of entrepreneurship with Remi, as she takes us through her inspiring journey from restaurant and hotel consulting to studying at Parsons, and finally, to creating vibrant tablescapes that echo her childhood memories. Remi candidly discusses the challenges of urban hosting, the creative process behind her products, and the joy found in collaborating with manufacturers. Get an insider's look into The Nosh Table, where dinnerware is more than just functional—it's a storytelling experience that brings together Jewish, Middle Eastern, and California-style cuisine influences.
Get ready for a celebration of traditions and entrepreneurship as Remi shares insightful stories from her multi-hyphenate career. From helping launching a gelato business in Los Angeles to dreaming about opening a hotel, her passion for culinary arts is palpable. She offers heartfelt advice for aspiring retail entrepreneurs, emphasizing the importance of embracing the learning curve. Tune in to hear about her vision for spreading joy through Jewish culture and the positive reception her brand has received. As we chat about future plans, aperitivo glassware, and holiday giveaways, Remy reminds us of the power of community support and the beauty of blending cultural traditions in personal and professional life.
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Remi Attia:I'm good. Thank you for having me, Nicole. I'm so happy to be here.
Nicole Kelly:I'm so glad that we were able to do this. So I usually start off by kind of getting the basic background of my guests, asking where they're from, what their Jewish upbringing was like, what denomination they were, if any, if they had a bar or bat mitzvah. So give me the background on all that.
Remi Attia:Yeah, of course. So I grew up in LA, born and raised. I always grew up very culturally Jewish, but more kind of reformed, conservative, religious wise. I grew up a couple blocks away from my grandparents, so they had such a big influence on me and I'm also Jewish and Italian so my whole upbringing was really kind of revolved around food and family and really big dinners. So I think from a young age, when I was kind of growing up Jewish, I just thought it was food and eating a lot. So yeah, and so now I live in New York but I come to visit my family in LA a lot and I was bought mitzvahed and kind of loved learning about Judaism from a young age and I feel like it's very full circle now, kind of launching a Jewish focused business and everything.
Nicole Kelly:What part of LA.
Remi Attia:I grew up in West LA.
Nicole Kelly:I'm a valley girl, yeah, so not too far from Westwood.
Remi Attia:I love that I'm a valley girl.
Nicole Kelly:I spent a lot of money on an arts education to not sound like I'm a valley girl, but I fall back into it sometimes when I'm with friends and family. Yeah, not happening. What part of the city do you live in now?
Remi Attia:So I live in Brooklyn in New York.
Nicole Kelly:Okay, I've been to Brooklyn maybe seven times in the entire 11 years I lived in New York, because the first nine I lived in Queens and there's no good way to get to Brooklyn from Queens so I visited like a couple times to go to museums and visit some friends, and now it's it's still very far, but we gotta come back. It's some of the best restaurants I've ever.
Remi Attia:Yeah, there actually there's good restaurants my sister when we were visiting one time dragged us. It's still very far, but oh, we've got to come back. It's some of the best restaurants I've ever been to, actually. Yeah, there's good restaurants.
Nicole Kelly:My sister, when we were visiting one time, dragged us to this place. It was like a pretzel place. This was a very long time ago because she followed influencers before. That was a thing, so she used to like read blogs and knew all the places to come. You know when we visited and even now when she visits, she finds all these places I've never even heard of. Yeah, totally. So most important question in regards to what you just answered what was the theme of your bat mitzvah? Because I am obsessed with bat mitzvah themes.
Remi Attia:It's actually so funny. So my theme was legally blonde and the tagline was legally bat mitzvah.
Nicole Kelly:Oh my gosh, I'm obsessed with that and we're going to have to have a side conversation about this. My theme was the 50s and my mom should have at some point been a party planner.
Remi Attia:That's so cute. It was like poodle skirts and all that.
Nicole Kelly:Yes, I didn't have a poodle skirt. My mom's best friend made like this turquoise. I'll send you information on the TikTok video, but there's a bunch of pictures.
Remi Attia:I need to see this yeah.
Nicole Kelly:It was a raging party in 1999.
Remi Attia:Sounds like it. I wish I was there.
Nicole Kelly:I feel like my business card needs to say Nicole Kelly, holocaust expert podcaster. People still talk about my bat mitzvah. Yes, because they do. I mean that's the perfect tagline. Yes, maybe that's the name of the book. I don't know, but like I still keep in touch with people who I know from preschool, and it's like I posted the video and they're like oh my God, I remember this. I was like we were so young. We were so young. I love it. It's a very vivid memory.
Nicole Kelly:It is, and my mom was like I can't believe you remember all this and I was like why would I not remember this? It's like the culmination of a ridiculous amount of education and a lot of planning.
Nicole Kelly:Um, totally, it's true. I always I say this like every episode. But she always said she didn't want to spend a lot of money on my bat mitzvah, because no one sits around and talks about their bat mitzvahs, but they talk about their weddings. I was like no, I talk about my bat mitzvah way more than my wedding in my everyday life. This is important, yes, but I love the legally blonde, was everything like pink and was there like a chihuahua that made an appearance at some point.
Remi Attia:Yes, I've always well, not a real chihuahua, but I've always been a huge, legally blonde fan. I just find her to be like such a badass. She loves pink but she's super smart and just like conquered law school. I don't know, it just had like such a strong you know powerful message to me when I was really little and it just stuck through me. I think I would honestly have like the same theme today.
Nicole Kelly:Well, you're getting ahead of yourself, because that's a question. That's a question I ask. You're getting ahead of yourself, did you? So I'm assuming you've seen the musical, then?
Remi Attia:Oh yeah, Multiple times when I was in Performing performing arts college.
Nicole Kelly:they were developing it and they had this like vlog series on broadwaycom called the road to legally blonde and they were like it was like their rehearsals and things and I just remember watching that and yes, it was um, I saw it at the.
Nicole Kelly:Did we see it at? I don't think we saw the pant at the Pantages. I think we saw it at the Orange County Performing Arts Center and it's funny because someone who was in the show ended up being one of our trainers at a gym called Mark Fisher Fitness. I don't know if you've heard of Mark Fisher.
Remi Attia:No, Is that in LA?
Nicole Kelly:No, it's in Hell's Kitchen, so it's very full of theater people and a lot of the trainers are former actors and we ended up he was one of our trainers um, yeah, there's five.
Nicole Kelly:There's five people in theater and they all know each other. Um, okay, so talk to me a little bit about, um, uh, being an italian jew, because this is something that a lot of people don't think exists. Um, I dated one in high school, so I know this exists, um, but but it's very different than Ashkenazi or Sephardic Jews, and I know, if we get even like more local when we were in Rome a couple years ago, roman Jews are even more different than the rest of the Italian Jews. So can you talk to me a little bit about that?
Remi Attia:Yeah, of course. So it's funny because my background it's really multicultural. My family we are Italian Jews, but they originally came from Egypt. So a lot of the kind of traditions and recipes and things that I grew up with were kind of a blend between Middle Eastern, italian, california, just like influenced by all the places that my family has lived in. But yeah, I grew up with a lot of the Sephardic traditions. I think from a young age I thought that it just meant we could eat rice on Passover.
Nicole Kelly:Yes, that's a big difference and a point of contention among many Jews if you can eat rice on Passover or not.
Remi Attia:Yeah, my friends were so jealous because Passover was always so easy, because I could just eat rice. But it's really cool to see because when we visit my family that now lives just outside of Florence, they have like very similar traditions. So for Passover we would even eat matzo ball soup and brisket and do the same prayers. It's just really beautiful to see that Judaism exists everywhere and even if you live across the world, you can share these different beautiful traditions together. And especially when my grandparents, you know they settled in California, then they started to even kind of create their own new traditions and recipes, but still kind of adapted from things that they learned over the generations, which I think is really special.
Nicole Kelly:So when did they, when did your relatives go from Egypt to Italy and what kind of caused that? That's a that's a big cultural change and geographical.
Remi Attia:Yeah, so the timeline is a little bit fuzzy because my family's kind of spread out everywhere. They went from Egypt to Italy and then my great grandparents moved from to Sicily and then my grandparents moved to California. So they originally went from Egypt to Italy for job opportunities and also there was a really big uptick in anti-Semitism and they weren't able to kind of practice a lot of the traditions that they had grown up with. So that's kind of honestly why I think a lot of people, why a lot of the traditions that they had grown up with. So that's kind of honestly why I think a lot of people, why a lot of Jewish people have moved, is persecution and search for a new life, a new opportunity. So now I still have family in Italy, mostly in California, and then we have some family in Israel too, which is really cool to see us kind of spread out all over.
Nicole Kelly:It's nice that you have kept in touch with family that's so far away. I'm of a rare breed that basically my entire family lived within a 20-minute radius of each other. Seriously, like my dad's parents, like everybody, my entire family, with the exception of, like, a great uncle who lived in New York and some relatives in Minneapolis. Everybody was here, was in LA, so I feel like when I was a kid I was kind of always jealous when people got to go visit relatives whereas visiting my great aunt was like a five minute ride.
Nicole Kelly:But now I get to do that, but it's nice that especially you have relatives that are still in Europe, that you're able to go, because I feel like people will ask me and I'm like, no, none of my relatives are left. Or that kind of thing, but it's nice that you still have them there. So, kind of transitioning to you personally and your story, your original background is in hotel management. What made you decide to study that and what were the some of the things that you did when you pursued that as a career?
Remi Attia:Yeah, so I grew up just loving cooking. I cooked a lot, with my grandma in particular, so I've always kind of been around food and hospitality. My grandfather was a wine writer for the LA Times for many years.
Nicole Kelly:That's the coolest thing I've ever heard and probably the best job ever.
Remi Attia:I love that so much.
Nicole Kelly:I am a huge, I am a big fan of wine. Um, I come from a big wine family. My family, my parent, my family is not, they're not really drinkers. So yeah like Menishevitz, was what was on the table and when you're exposed to that you're like this is disgusting. Um, it was like Blackberry Menishevitz. So it wasn't until I turned 21 and started like experimenting on my own that I discovered I really love wine, and I also really like beer, which I know is like an un-female thing.
Nicole Kelly:No, I love it, okay, so your grandfather was a wine writer for the Times.
Remi Attia:Yeah, so he used to work a lot with hotels and restaurants and then in high school I started interning for different hotels and I just loved it. I loved the world of hospitality and I really just wanted to learn more and and cooking and design and so many of the different areas that I wanted to. So, yeah, that's kind of how my career in hospitality began and there was such a great community there. Some of my best friends are still from that school and that program so it really kind of catapulted my career in the business.
Nicole Kelly:And what did you do when you got out of school? What kind of jobs did you have? Were you managing? Were you managing dining rooms? What were you doing?
Remi Attia:So it's funny I've had so many different jobs in my career. I've worked in restaurants on the culinary side. For most of my career I was a consultant and I would do kind of similar to what like a mystery shopper does, so I would go into different hotels, evaluate the operations, and I've always just loved working with different brands and learning from as many different hotels around the world as possible, because hospitality is so different everywhere yes, it's different in California, it's different in Italy, it's different really everywhere. So that was really what fascinated me about the industry and, yeah, it just really gave me the opportunity to just like learn as much as possible, and that's all I really wanted. That's why I've loved kind of moving around in my career.
Nicole Kelly:It's so funny that you say that the expectations are different in different places because we own a tour company and people will talk to us about, like, whether or not we get a lot of the Asian market at least, pre-covid was very huge in New York but they tour very differently than people from Europe and the United States and they tend to work with companies that are based out of places like China. So it's just, and you know, and just having traveled, the expectations of how hotel staff treats you or servers, it's very different.
Remi Attia:Yes.
Nicole Kelly:So the best way to discover that, I guess, is to travel and figure out those differences. It's an excuse to hop on a plane.
Remi Attia:Yeah, exactly I agree.
Nicole Kelly:So then you studied interior design at Parsons, and I'm actually about to graduate from the new school in um December, Uh, and I have many. I have many thoughts about the new school over the past year and what's been going on there, um, but uh, so what? So that was a bit of a change. What inspired that and what did you do while you were at Parsons?
Remi Attia:Totally. So I did that as I was working actually, because I even throughout college I always kind of had like an itch for design, but I never knew and I couldn't, you know, obviously go to two colleges at once at the time. So I found out about this kind of hospitality interior design graduate program where I could take classes and just learn about all aspects of design. So it was really a crash course in like space planning, learning about different products that are used in hotel rooms, and also just like how to design a space for the new age of travelers, because travel has changed even so much from the time that I had graduated college. So it really gave me the opportunity to like apply what I learned at the hotel school, but in more of a design sense. And then that's kind of how I grew into the design world and just loved that creative aspect of it.
Nicole Kelly:I. That is totally not my wheelhouse. I feel like the fact that I have a functionally looking apartment is an achievement on my end and a lot of that has to do with my husband. So it's very impressive and, like some of the kids in my class are at Parsons and talking about some of the projects that they're doing, it's crazy impressive and I know that it's a big. Like it's a very famous program. That's so cool. I didn't know they had a hotel design program. Like it's a very famous program. That's so cool. I didn't know they had a hotel design program. How long was that program?
Remi Attia:So I did it for a very short. I did kind of like the abbreviated version of it, so mine was about six months, but I did it like after work, every day, gotcha. So every month I took a different course. So it was a lot of work but it was really worth it. And just to see what actually goes into designing a space and designing a hotel. It's so much more complicated than people think but it's also fascinating, so I really enjoyed it.
Nicole Kelly:And then you created the nosh table. So did that come from your, you know, studying at Parsons? Can we talk about how that started? What was the inspiration? I want to know everything.
Remi Attia:Yeah, so I started the nosh table back in March, so it's been about eight months, which is exciting, and I've known for a long time that I wanted to start my own business but I didn't really know kind of what that would look like, how to do it, when to do it. Never, never is the right answer to that. I feel like as a business, owner myself.
Nicole Kelly:we kind of were just like well, I guess we're doing this now and that's just how that works, Because it's like having. It's like having a kid, there's never a good time, because you can plan and be as financially secure as you want, and you're still going to be like yeah, I don't know if this is going to work Exactly.
Remi Attia:It's easy to make up excuses not to do it?
Nicole Kelly:Yes, okay, so you wanted to start a business?
Remi Attia:Yes, and it was really. I wanted to do something too that like incorporated my passion for design but also my family background, and I kind of noticed that especially around Judaica and Jewish holiday items. There I just really couldn't find anything that reminded me of like the beautiful, exciting spreads that my grandma used to make with like playful dinnerware and just like a really welcoming table.
Nicole Kelly:So I started kind of yeah, white dinnerware was very popular when I was getting married. Like, just like white charger plates like the crate and barrel aesthetic which, like was not my thing, so I definitely get what you're saying.
Remi Attia:Yes, it's hard to find, and especially for like holidays. So really, my first product was a Passover Seder plate, because I wanted to create something that was bright and colorful and exciting, that people would want to use all year round and not just for Passover, because me personally, I couldn't even find a Seder plate that I wanted to have when I hosted holidays. So to me, it's really just about kind of sharing these two beautiful Italian and Jewish traditions and creating kind of fun and exciting dinnerware that really inspires people to come together around the dinner table. That's really what it's all about.
Nicole Kelly:Yeah, I love. I love the color. I feel like sometimes I'm afraid of color love the color. I feel like sometimes I'm afraid of color, but that's what I mean. I mean more like in what I wear as opposed to my house, if that makes any sense. So I feel like colorful dishes are a really great way to to kind of make a statement, cause I tend to wear. I don't wear bright colors. I'm very much a New Yorker, even though I'm from LA, so I feel I have like a black coat.
Remi Attia:I'm wearing a gray sweater.
Nicole Kelly:Right now that's kind of my, my uniform, yeah. So how did you come up with the name? The nosh table?
Remi Attia:So coming up with the name the nosh table actually took me longer than you would think. I was playing around with a bunch of different names, but I wanted to create something that really embodied that like playfulness around food, because a lot of the dinners and holidays that I grew up with were very welcoming and playful and they weren't stuffy or formal. So I wanted the name to kind of encompass that, and Nosh is such like a not only is it like a funny sounding Yiddish name, but it does have like a playful connotation of like eating a snack or, you know, eating in the kitchen as you're cooking. So I just thought that was like the perfect addition to the name. And then adding table, because this whole brand is kind of centered around the table. Even though we do have some more lifestyle brands, I just believe everything revolves around the table. Even though we do have some more lifestyle brands, I just believe everything revolves around the table.
Nicole Kelly:I love that. You know what's really funny is speaking about like a pretty table. Growing up, my great aunt, the one who lived five minutes away from me, would hold these huge satyrs with like over 30 people, and she had these dishes and I have her entire fine china set in my living room. Yeah, but I don't have a dining room table, so I have a set for like 20 people and I don't have a table, but it's so funny do you have a dining room table in Brooklyn where you get, or do you have a space where you host parties?
Remi Attia:I do, finally, but for a while, and I used to live in San Francisco and I didn't have any table, so it was like everything was on the couch.
Nicole Kelly:Yeah, it's such a weird New York thing Like we eat at the coffee table. Now, in our last place we had a kitchen table but we don't have space. But we got a third bedroom, so it's you know, and a washer and dryer.
Remi Attia:Yeah, okay, worth it. You take what you can get.
Nicole Kelly:You take what you can get Totally. How do you decide what products to sell? Is this just something? You know, I own a business, but I don't own a business that sells physical things. So is this just the kind of thing where you do market research where it's just like, hey, I want to do this, like what do you just? How do you decide that?
Remi Attia:It's definitely a song and dance, I think. Before I initially launched the brand, I did talk to a lot of kind of friends and family and see okay, what products are you looking for? You know, how can we make Jewish holidays more fun, how can we make dinner parties more playful and just kind of going from there, and all of the products that I do design I hand paint first and it does take quite a while to actually turn it into a product. It can take many months. So I'm already kind of thinking about next year.
Remi Attia:But yeah, my first product since I did start with the Passover holiday was really centered around Passover. So I launched with three different Seder plates and then kind of recipes around that to make it a more kind of lifestyle brand of okay, you can log onto our website, try out a Passover recipe that you can then use with your Seder plate, and then it just kind of grew from there. I feel like, especially with linens and our cocktail napkins, I can be really fun with them because you can kind of set them on your table and they're a conversation starter with a lot of the kind of Italian and Yiddish sayings, and that was also something I really didn't see with other brands were linens with, you know, nosh or Italian phrases on them. I just thought could be really fun for people to kind of have a conversation around the table that was inspired by the linens and things that they actually saw physically on the table.
Nicole Kelly:What do you mean? You start by hand painting, like you do a painting, or you're hand painting the products.
Remi Attia:Yeah, so actually both. I love to paint, so I always would sketch things growing up and paint things just to kind of like get my ideas out. So that's kind of how I initially start with visualizing products, because I'm such a visual person, so I always start visually first, and then, especially with the Seder plate and the linens, it took a lot of different rounds of ordering samples from different places to test quality because I'm such a stickler for quality and then putting things in the washer over and, over and over again and seeing how it lasts. So that part took a long time just to like get the actual products and quality set before I actually placed orders.
Nicole Kelly:I love that you say the quality is so important, because I feel like everything today is so cheaply made and there's even videos making fun of things like if you you buy something on shine like this is what you get. But I feel like. I, I like I'm old school like my mom's father was a shoemaker, so when my daughter was born first started walking, she's like you need to spend money on like good shoes for her because that's like a very important thing and I think when it comes to dinnerware and serve pieces.
Nicole Kelly:That's important too. Even though we don't have a dining room table, we do host a lot of parties and I feel like I love my serveware, and that was one of the most exciting things that I was so excited to register for when we got married was serveware because I wanted to throw dinner parties, and I love that you're really focusing on that quality because that sets you apart from just buying, like some schlock, on Amazon, which you know.
Remi Attia:Definitely. You know it's not ideal. It's meant to be used for years. Yeah, and I think it's so important.
Nicole Kelly:And there is something about bringing out certain serveware every year, Like when we host a holiday party every year and like bringing this stuff out and like, oh, like the memory is attached to that Totally. Why do you think? Why do you think that an impressive tablescape is so important? For, like I was saying, a lot of your stuff is very colorful and pops, so why does it is an impressive tablescape so important to a party in general?
Remi Attia:Yeah, I just think it sets the tone for the whole, for the whole experience. I I just think it's so important, especially now, to have kind of a welcoming environment for people, and I remember my grandparents used to invite over neighbors and people with different backgrounds and religions. But when you were sitting at the table and you were all passing around food and breaking bread together, I just think creating kind of a welcoming space for that with fun and colorful dinnerware just is huge and that immediately makes people happy and just kind of spreads joy around the whole experience.
Nicole Kelly:What are some of the other things that you think that are important to a celebration other than tableware?
Remi Attia:Oh then definitely the food. I colorful food, colorful dinnerware, no, but I think also just like inviting people into the kitchen and like making it just a really collaborative process. I think it's so much fun and I know my grandparents did that a lot. It wasn't a formal dinner or holiday. They would make big platters of food and it was just meant to be shared and passed around, which I absolutely love.
Nicole Kelly:Yeah, A formal sit down dinner has its place, but I think, especially when you're again talking when we got to New York apartments, you're limited on space. It can be difficult to do that, and I don't know many people who have these huge houses for that anyway these days, because I'm a millennial and no one owns a huge house.
Remi Attia:That I know.
Nicole Kelly:Can you walk me through the making of a nosh table product from idea to physical product? And you can do this for both things like glassware and the linens, because I know that's a different process.
Remi Attia:Yeah, it's kind of like what I was saying before with whenever I get an idea, I typically like sketch it out or paint it first, just to kind of work on the design mock-up from the beginning.
Remi Attia:Then I work with several different manufacturers and producers because everyone kind of specializes in different products. So there's a lot of back and forth, especially when I first launched like I don't, for my glassware I only have two different types right now, and that's because it took months to kind of go back and forth order different samples and same with the linens I was very picky about kind of the colors and the materials. So it was a lot of kind of back and forth of ordering samples, figuring out what worked, talking to friends and family, kind of pulling different products as well. But it definitely takes several months from when I come up with an idea to actually making it. I'm now starting to work on custom orders, which is really exciting so I can kind of shrink the turnaround time and do things that are very specialized, which I absolutely love. So there are certain products which I can do custom coming up, which is going to be very exciting and kind of shorten that turnaround time.
Remi Attia:Customizing, like color or design customizing like color or design yeah, both so customizing specific designs, whether it's napkins or plates for events or certain gifts, like if people want to do something for a wedding or birthday I'll be able to do that, which is a lot of fun, do you?
Nicole Kelly:this is not um, I can't speak English today um do you tend to sell more to individuals, like through your website, or do you get, like, bulk orders from places like catering companies or things like that?
Remi Attia:It's kind of a combination. I do wholesale and then also direct to consumer. I love working with retail stores because it really helps me kind of expand my audience to different stores around the country. So it's kind of a combination of both. Our products are now on Zola too, which is really exciting. So especially for wedding gifts, host gifts, that's a really. Our items, like the Seder plate, are a really popular item on Zola. But I love working with new stores and um restaurants as well.
Nicole Kelly:That's so exciting that there's many different avenues, that you're able to get these products out in lots of different ways. Um, so, what are the? So? Because your business is very Jewish focused, what are the some of the challenges and even the rewards that you find in owning a business that is very Jewish focused, like the Nosh Table?
Remi Attia:Yeah, I think it's tough. Even just being Jewish today is hard, and there is definitely a weight to that being a Jewish woman, being a Jewish woman-owned business. It's a lot of layers. It's definitely been a challenging year for so many people. But at the same time, I think one kind of really unexpected thing that happened with this brand is meeting so many other business owners, jewish women owned businesses and other brands that kind of share a similar mission, and we've been able to collaborate on products but also kind of lean on each other during these really this particularly really difficult year. So that's been kind of a bright light through it all.
Nicole Kelly:What's your, what's typically? I mean, this is your first year. I was like what's the busiest time of the year? But what has been the busiest time of the past eight months for you?
Remi Attia:I think now actually, which is exciting You're right, this is my first year, so I have nothing to compare it to. But kind of going into Hanukkah and the holidays and also since it has, you know, been eight months, it's starting to spread, which is really exciting. So I'm just really happy to see it in more stores and just like the fact that it's kind of growing organically now is really exciting to see.
Nicole Kelly:Is it just you, or do you have people that work with you?
Remi Attia:It's just me. My husband does help with a lot of the packing and shipping because we actually do everything out of our basement.
Nicole Kelly:Oh, my goodness.
Remi Attia:I'm a small business, yeah, so everything is at our apartment, which a lot of people don't realize. But also exciting when you're supporting small businesses. We're really doing everything ourselves, so, but there's so much more reward.
Nicole Kelly:It's like it's a lot of work.
Nicole Kelly:I know, but there's a lot of reward in that, because I feel like at some point you turn around you're like this is how I'm supporting my life with this business that I created, and I remember that, like when we first started our company, it was just me and my husband would be giving two Statue of Liberty tours a day, which is eight hours, basically, of just talking and dealing with crowds and boats. And I think back to those times, like when we couldn't afford toilet paper and now I have this lovely life that I'm, you know, because of our business. So it's that you built.
Remi Attia:Yeah, but when?
Nicole Kelly:so when you build it yourself, there's just so much more reward in that Um, we're not packing anything up. I feel like I don't have the space for physical items, and I know this is this this office is all messy because we have like a bunch of business stuff here. It's just a lot of paperwork but no physical stuff.
Nicole Kelly:So you keep going back to cooking, and you mentioned this is something that you grew up doing and then you studied that as well, so you've done all sorts of crazy things that I am so impressed by. So you talked a lot about cooking with your grandmother. What are some of the things that you would make for what holidays?
Remi Attia:And then what made you decide to further your education with the culinary arts? Yeah, so, oh. There's so many recipes that my grandma used to make, but she really did do kind of a blend of Jewish, Middle Eastern, California style cooking, which I think is really cool. She used to make kibbeh, which was delicious, grape leaves, which my mom now makes today, which are absolutely insanely delicious, but so much work. But then she would also make a lot of Italian recipes like osso bucco, a lot of risotto, lots of pasta and I feel like too, because she was influenced by so many cultures, it was, it really was just a blend of different ingredients, and she used to grow a lot of ingredients in her backyard. And myself, my family, we love gardening, so that's one thing. Especially being from California, we just like learned so quickly and loved is including like fresh herbs, tomatoes and all of our cooking. So it really just like brightens everything up.
Nicole Kelly:And then you correct me if I'm wrong. You studied in Italy. Yes, yeah, yes, so tell me a little bit about that.
Remi Attia:Yes, so I studied in Italy twice. So I studied abroad in Italy and took a bunch of culinary courses while I was in college and then, once I graduated, I went back to Italy and I studied a gelato school program there. So I learned like the art of making gelato and pastry, which is really fun and exciting. So I just love to learn how to cook and Italy is just the place place to go.
Nicole Kelly:I am infamously a terrible cook, so I'm always impressed when people are able to do things like that. No, I'm really bad. It's impressive when I don't kill people Like I think the first time I cooked chicken I think I was 27 years old and I was I literally wrote on Facebook.
Remi Attia:Nobody died.
Nicole Kelly:So that's my husband's an excellent cook, and he is prepping for.
Remi Attia:Thanksgiving right now, and we got like a fresh.
Nicole Kelly:It's a lot and he does it all by himself. Um, which is I know I help with the mashed potatoes cause I can, I can, I can do that. That's very easy to peel and to to whip them, uh, but he is one of the few people I know who can make a turkey that's actually edible and I'm not a huge fan of turkey to begin with. It's like the only time of the year I eat turkey.
Remi Attia:It's hard to make it is.
Nicole Kelly:It is, but it's like a whole thing. He brines it for like a day and a half. Wow, he goes all and he's perfected the brine. No-transcript.
Remi Attia:I don't at home because I don't have the proper machine. But I helped launch a business out in Los Angeles which is a gelato business and I just love kind of spreading the Italian culture, learning how to make different types of Italian food. But whenever I come home, and especially for Thanksgiving, my mom and I love cooking together and we just kind of whip up different things all the time and it's really what grounds me. So I think wherever I am in my career, there's always has to be some sort of food or cooking aspect, because that's just my favorite part my daughter, I think, is already picking up on that from my husband really.
Nicole Kelly:Yeah, we're getting her one of those like toddler towers for hanukkah and I bought her their toddler knives. But I told my husband I was like she's getting knives for hanukkah and he thought I was. He's like what I said.
Remi Attia:No, they're like children yeah, they, they're kid knife set.
Nicole Kelly:Yeah, they're like Montessori knives so she can like cut vegetables and stuff, because she stands on a stepladder now, which is not very safe. So we want to get her like an actual tower and she can cut stuff, but she seems interesting.
Remi Attia:I don't think they had that when I was growing up.
Nicole Kelly:No, no they didn't want children in the kitchen safely, I guess. But those like toddler towers are very popular.
Remi Attia:I've never seen them. Yeah, you should go look on Amazon.
Nicole Kelly:They're very popular, but my sister even says she's like I was always interested when our mom was cooking and you didn't care, I was like correct. I did not care, I was probably off reading some book about World War II when I was eight, instead of cooking. That's okay, we all have our thing. I mean, look, yeah. So we talked a lot about the different things that you've done in career in your career.
Remi Attia:What are some of the challenges of being a multi-hyphenate career woman? It's tough because I think at the end of the day, there's more positives to it than negatives. I think for a long time I was like, why am I so interested in so many different careers or so many different businesses? And I think just from a young age I've loved learning. I was always the kid that loved going to school, did every extra credit. I just love learning about different people, about different cultures and this business also. I knew nothing about retail going into this. My background is in hospitality so it really like threw me into the fire where I got to learn so many different parts of the business world. So I just think that's fun and exciting. I think people don't need to kind of go down one path. You can really explore so many different careers and so many different areas of life.
Nicole Kelly:I agree. I think limiting yourself can be really stifling, and I'm not. I don't think you are either, but I'm not the kind of person that can sit at an office and just that's my whole thing. I feel like I need to be out there physically doing stuff, and it's amazing that you've turned all these different passions into something that is becoming very successful. Thank, you.
Nicole Kelly:And kind of going along with that because it is such a new business. What are some of the things that you have as far as hopes for the future, for the table and your career as well?
Remi Attia:Yeah, it's funny. It's hard to see I'm trying not to like put too much weight onto what this will turn into. I'm so excited about it and I think the future of it is so hopeful. And I think, just at the end of the day, just whether it's this business or just overall in my life is really focused on kind of spreading joy around the Jewish culture, around the traditions that I grew up with, and just creating something that kind of gives people hope and I think that's also why I loved working in hospitality is it's all about just kind of spreading joy, creating memorable experiences for people, and I think the Nosh table can grow in so many different directions and I'm really excited about it and the response has been great so far, so I'm very hopeful.
Nicole Kelly:What is your advice to someone who's interested in starting their own brand that sells physical items? You know, like retail. What would be your advice since it's all very fresh right now.
Remi Attia:Totally. I think the important thing is to. It's tough because I think, especially before you start your own business, whether it's retail or something else, it's definitely terrifying. I think it's impossible not to be scared because it's very you're being very vulnerable, you're putting yourself out there, you're testing the waters, you're kind of like open to all criticism. So just trying to kind of create like a shield around yourself of protection I think is so important, and just kind of knowing that like it's all about trial and error. I think the whole business is a learning business. There are some products that you will love and you'll be like this is going to sell in a second and it won't, and then there's some that are surprising to you, that you're going to have to reorder. So I think just like not putting too much pressure on yourself of having you know to make everything perfect, which is hard, but just kind of being open to being receptive on what people like and just kind of going with the flow of your business, I think is really important.
Nicole Kelly:So, jumping back to you personally, you got married last year. Back to you personally, you got married last year. So what were some of the Italian or Jewish traditions that you incorporated in your wedding and in the celebration in general?
Remi Attia:Yeah, so I met my husband in college. So I've known him for 12-ish years, which is crazy. But one of the things that I was immediately drawn to of him is he also comes from a really interesting background. So his family was originally from Syria, then moved to Panama and then he still has cousins in Panama, but most live in New York. So he kind of has a very interesting Sephardic and Ashkenazi background. So for our wedding we really just incorporated all the Jewish traditions that we love. We weren't super strict on. We had to follow certain things, but especially the food. We incorporated a lot of really delicious Italian food and then we incorporated, like his grandfather's, tallit for our cuppa, which was really nice, and we really just tried to kind of blend our families and blend all of our traditions, which I thought was really beautiful.
Nicole Kelly:So, jumping to something a little more serious you kind of hinted at this this has been an extremely difficult almost year and a month, really, I think, for I feel like it's been 15 years.
Remi Attia:I feel like I've aged that much.
Nicole Kelly:For anybody who's Jewish, who's visibly Jewish online or in person. A lot of my guests and myself have dealt with anti-Semitism on social media. Is this something that you've had to deal with, and what would be your advice to somebody who's having trouble with this, if you have any?
Remi Attia:Yeah, yeah, I think it's definitely really tough.
Remi Attia:I think from when I was little, my grandparents always warned me that anti-Semitism was really bad and it's really important to be proud of being Jewish and kind of spread positivity around that.
Remi Attia:And I don't think I fully understood that until this year. I think it's really been a test on all of us and I wanted to start this brand before, and I wanted to start this brand before really, you know, for a while, for a couple years now, so it was before October 7th, before the extreme uptick in anti-Semitism, and then, kind of going into this year, I had a lot of hesitation and kind of fear of my family, about security and all of that. But I think one thing that's really been helpful is meeting other Jewish business owners and kind of leaning on each other, looking out for each other and checking in, and it's really brought people together even more, which I think is really beautiful to see. So yeah, I think at the end of the day, it's just really important to be there for each other and kind of protect, you know, the people that are around you and support one another for sure.
Nicole Kelly:I definitely agree. I think that in a weird way, it's made a lot of people more Jewish. People who were passively Jewish are becoming more proud of who they are. I think a lot of people are becoming more religious or finding communities. So, at least there's something small in a pot, something positive, a small positive thing that has come out of this.
Remi Attia:I think, so we're dealing with a lot.
Nicole Kelly:It's just very stressful and you know I totally living in New York, especially where a lot of the protests are happening. It's really it's really easy to feel overwhelmed and alone, but it's amazing that you've been able to connect especially with business owners on on that level about that. So this last portion is modeled after the actor studio. These are short form answers so you don't need to give me a full answer unless you want to. The first question is what is your favorite yiddish word?
Remi Attia:and I'm gonna add italian word as well oh, I feel like I have to say nosh. It's my favorite, of course, I do it every day.
Nicole Kelly:No, definitely nosh and what about an italian word? Do you have a favorite italian word?
Remi Attia:And what about an Italian word? Do you have a favorite Italian word? That's hard. There are so many beautiful Italian words. I mean this is more of a phrase, but I've always lived by the phrase like la vita bella Life is beautiful. I think it's such a beautiful phrase and something that I just grew up hearing all the time from my family, and especially whenever times get really hard, I always remind myself of that. So I think it's a phrase that's probably my favorite and the most beautiful.
Nicole Kelly:So if you were to have a bat mitzvah today, what would the theme be? And you can't say legally blonde, because you already said that, oh, this is so hard now.
Remi Attia:Okay, Well, I guess this is kind of similar to my wedding, but I would do a pasta theme because at my wedding every table was a different pasta shape. We're a little obsessed with pasta in my family. My dog's name is Ravioli. My parents' dog's name is Tortellini.
Nicole Kelly:I am also a pasta fan, so I there is no judgment coming from me about the love of pasta. It is one of God's great creations. Uh, I agree. Um, what profession other than your own would you want to attempt?
Remi Attia:I would love to open a hotel one day, whether it's my own brands or I just think that would be so cool. That's like been on my bucket list forever and a girl can dream. So maybe one day.
Nicole Kelly:If heaven is real and God is there to welcome you, what would you like to hear him say?
Remi Attia:Oh, I feel like if I were to imagine it, I kind of go back to thinking about my grandparents, especially because I lost them when I was in college and I, I would hope they would just be happy that you know, I'm continuing a lot of my Jewish family traditions and creating new ones. I think that they would be really happy to see kind of the light that we're all kind of spreading together.
Nicole Kelly:I'm sure they would. There's so much inspiration from them in everything that you've done in your career, so I'm sure they would. There's so much inspiration from them in everything that you've done in your career, so I'm sure they'd be super proud of what you've accomplished.
Remi Attia:Thank you.
Nicole Kelly:So we're participating in a giveaway with a couple of other brands and what we're going to be giving away from the Nosh table is a set of aperitivo glasses. Can we talk a little bit about the inspiration behind those? Because they are gorgeous and when I was looking at your items I was like, oh my God, these are amazing and I think people would die for these, so they have to be included in the giveaway. So talk to me a little bit about the glasses and the inspiration behind that, so if people, when someone wins, they'll know what the inspiration was when they get it in the mail.
Remi Attia:Oh, thank you. Well, aperitivo is one of my favorite traditions in Italy. Every time we go to Italy with my family, we always enjoy aperitivo, so it's basically like having Italian nosh with a spritzy drink. So it can be Aperol spritz, prosecco, really anything but it's really a ritual where people gather before dinner and unplug, take things slow and just kind of enjoy the end of the day. So I wanted to create a glassware that really encompasses that, where you can enjoy it with an Aperol spritz or with wine or really any beverage. And saw them. I saw them and thought champagne. I thought.
Nicole Kelly:I saw them and thought champagne immediately. I was like champagne and my sister's getting them for that retro feel and my sister's getting them for hanukkah, so hopefully she doesn't listen this episode before she gets it because I saw them I was like because she does not necessarily like an aperitivo drinker, but she likes champagne. So I was like Because she does not necessarily like an aperitivo drinker, but she likes champagne, so I was like yes, yeah perfect.
Nicole Kelly:So we're going to be giving away the aperitivo glasses, a Monica drip like a menorah drip tray from Ariel's Orger, as well as some challahs and a tote from the challah back girls, and you can check out my Instagram and for or anybody who's participating their Instagram for information on this and if you have any questions about it, you can send me a DM on Instagram.
Remi Attia:Stay tuned. There's a lot of fun Nosh Table Hanukkah items coming out and it's going to be really exciting next year. I'm ready for 2025.
Nicole Kelly:It can only be up from here, hopefully. Yes, I think so. So thank you so much for joining me, Remi. This is so lovely and it's been so great getting to talk to you and get to know you. This is Nicole Kelly, and this has been Shebrew in the City.
