Food has always played a strong role in Ariana Bundy’s life. Her early childhood in Iran was idyllic, with gatherings near the Caspian or up in the mountains, surrounded by family. Food was ever-present, a perpetual topic of conversation, and part of her DNA, with a restaurateur father and landowning grandparents who specialized in cultivating prized grapes. “I remember my grandparents carrying in crates of different varieties. They had these champagne grapes, which are those tight little bundles, and which we used to bite into and eat almost like apples,” recalls the chef, cookbook author, and restaurateur.
