Kor means “home” in Pashto, one of the official languages of Afghanistan. That’s exactly what San Luis Obispo is to Sophia Zekria, an Afghan immigrant and founder of Kor Kitchen, serving the first Afghan cuisine in SLO County.
Since she was a little girl in Kabul, Zekria has loved cooking. Today, Zekria hopes to expand Kor Kitchen from catering and pop-ups to a permanent restaurant space. However, she didn’t pursue cooking professionally until she moved to SLO.
Zekria studied accounting at the American University of Afghanistan. After evacuating from the country when the Taliban took over in August 2021, Zekria and her family escaped to a refugee camp near Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where they waited eight months for their American visas and paperwork to get processed.
The conditions were harsh, she said. The family stayed in one bedroom and wasn’t allowed to go outside.
Try something new
Experience authentic Afghan hospitality by booking a seat at one of Kor Kitchen’s ticketed family-style Supper Clubs. Upcoming event dates and ticket sales are announced at korkitchen.com and on Instagram @slo_kor_. For catering inquiries, private dining bookings, or to share information about a permanent restaurant space in SLO, email sophia.zekria550@gmail.com.
“It’s been five years since I left that,” Zekria said. “This month was emotional, but I’m feeling better now.”
Upon approval, the family stayed in Virginia for around 20 days and was then told by SLO for HOME, the county’s nonprofit refugee transition organization, that they were the first Afghan family selected to resettle in SLO.
“The interview that I had in Virginia told me, ‘You [are] going [to] a very beautiful city.’” Zekria said. “It’s very beautiful.”
After arriving, Zekria said she struggled to remember what normal life was like.
“I forgot everything,” she said.
Zekria got a job at Sephora downtown and worked there for eight months, but she was homesick. Afghanistan was nowhere to be seen in her new home.
“There was no Afghan food here,” she said. “Nobody knows about my culture, my food and people. Nobody knows about Afghanistan besides the war, only the news and everything.”
So she decided to share the hospitality that’s rooted in Afghan culture, hoping to change local residents’ perception. She chose the name Kor Kitchen because she “wanted people to know what the story is” behind her business.
To establish her kitchen, which now hosts pop-up events and provides catering services, Zekria began with culinary classes at Cuesta College. For about a year, she worked as a private chef, going directly to clients’ homes to “introduce the food.”
Once she got her business license, she began renting space in a commercial kitchen terminal located in front of the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport. From there, she’s spent nearly two years catering, offering Saturday takeouts, and hosting pop-up events in SLO, Atascadero, and Paso Robles.
Today, Kor hosts Supper Clubs, where guests eat authentic Afghan food passed around family-style to the sound of traditional music in the background. Guests are typically served dishes like kabuli pulao—the national Afghan dish made of basmati rice, meat, carrots, and raisins—and chapli kabab—a spiced minced meat patty.
“I feel very connected with each guest,” Zekria said. “Watching strangers connect around my table, it’s very meaningful for me.”
Recently, Zekria collaborated with the SLO Food Co-op to sell grab-and-go Afghan meals, including zera (cumin) aged sella rice and mantu (beef dumplings) topped with a warm lentil sauce. There is also a vegan option, with a tangy, spicy sauce made with cilantro, vinegar, and garlic.
“I feel like all the hard work that I did in the past, it’s finally paying off,” Zekria said.
Kor also became the first catering business certified by the SLO County Green Business Program. The program highlighted locally sourced ingredients and energy-efficient technology as “setting a new standard for environmentally responsible food businesses,” according to an April 2 Instagram post.
Early in Kor’s evolution, Zekria traveled to the Bay Area to purchase her spices. Today, she sources ingredients like cardamom and cumin from the SLO Food Co-op, pairing them with vegetables from local farmers.
‘Watching strangers connect around my table, it’s very meaningful for me.’
—Sophia Zekria, founder and head chef of Kor Kitchen
While friends in Los Angeles and the Bay Area have urged Zekria to relocate to a larger market, she said leaving SLO wouldn’t be easy for her. Additionally, she said she enjoys building her business in a region that knows little to nothing about her culture.
“I wanted to do it somewhere that people don’t know about [Afghan cuisine],” Zekria said. “My business, I feel like it’s very personal for me. It’s not only a business; I feel like it’s everything for me. It’s a way of connecting me with my country.”
Her ultimate dream is to find a permanent restaurant space in SLO with a “homey vibe,” where people can come, feel at home, and experience the flavors of her home. She credits the SLO community with giving her a space to share her culture and expose the community to new foods.
“I met very kind, very good people here that I call them family now,” Zekria said. “If anybody can help [Kor Kitchen] find [its] permanent home here in SLO, that would be awesome.” ∆
Reach Flavor writer Sam Fickett at sfickett@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Sept 3-10, 2026.
