Yeshi told me not to write about Pema’s reunion this week with her family, 14 months after she left her home in India to come and work at Taste Tibet. He said people get angry about immigration. They don’t like it: just look at the numbers of protesters who gathered last weekend.
But the arrival of Pema’s husband and children yesterday morning at Heathrow is a big moment for our small team, and I think her story deserves an audience.
Here’s a few things you should know about Pema. She was born in Tibet, but crossed the Himalayas for India at a young age. Work doesn’t come easily to Tibetan immigrants in India, but Pema is great with her hands, and her first job was in tailoring design at Norbulingka, the world-renowned Tibetan arts institute in Dharamsala.
When she was barely out of her teens, Pema got married and started a family. During the winter months, her and her husband sold sweaters at roadside stalls and markets around India. In the summer they lived and worked in farming settlements. Later Pema followed her passion for food. After running kitchens in Tibetan restaurants for several years, she opened her own place inside the Dalai Lama’s temple in McLeod Ganj in 2021.
Pema left India last year with the hope of making a more meaningful life for her and her family here in the UK. India has provided a sanctuary for Tibetan refugees ever since the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in the 1950s, but it does not issue passports as a matter of course. Without this paperwork, Tibetan people cannot vote, own property or travel abroad easily, and many corporate jobs are also out of reach. Pema has spent £15k bringing her husband and kids over on family/work visas. She wants to give everyone to chance to grow and flower here.
Pema is a mean momo-maker and a natural hostess. We’re so lucky to have her on our team. Her family now become part of the extended Taste Tibet fam – we hope you’ll join us in welcoming them to Oxford. Their visa terms do not permit them access to public funds, so if you’re looking for a farm worker/kitchen hand/go-getter of any description do shout. Pema’s husband is ready to hit the ground running, and if he’s a match for Pema, he’s a guaranteed keeper.
You can see Pema and everyone on the team all the usual hours this week, as follows:
Weds – Fri: 5-9.30pm (dinner only)
Saturday: 12-3 / 5-9.30pm
Sunday: 12-3 / 5-9pm
This week’s menu is up on the website – check it.
Freezer food: we have excellent stocks of momos now and all our main curry dishes + Tibetan beef with pepper. Run, don’t walk! We’ll continue to fill the freezers over the course of the week so do stop by if you’re after Sesame Chicken or some of our other killer dishes.
Sepen chilli oil: don’t hang about! We made a big batch of Oxford’s favourite pick-me-up last week, but already it’s flying out. Or you can make your own if you have the cookbook.
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Looking forward to another week of Taste Tibet!
Julie and Yeshi
Opening hours this week:
Weds – Fri: 5-9.30pm
Saturday: 12-3pm 🥢 5-9.30pm
Sunday: 12-3pm 🥢 5-9pm
☏ 01865 499318
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