Name: Author Event: Zareen and Umair Khan – High Chai and Conversation
Start: 2026-05-17T15:00:00-07:00
End: 2026-05-17T17:00:00-07:00
Location: Rinconada Library

$Author Event: Zareen and Umair Khan \u2013 High Chai and Conversation$

Palo Alto City Library is thrilled to host an in-person author talk with Zareen and Umair Khan on Sunday, May 17, at the Rinconada Library as part of our celebration of AANHPI month. As the founders of the beloved Zareen’s Restaurants, they are also sharing their culinary journey through their cookbook, Zareen's Pakistani Kitchen: Recipes From a Well-fed Childhood.
Zareen and Umair will share the inspiration behind their recipes and discuss the food activists and nonprofits highlighted in their work. Attendees will have the chance to hear about the process of bringing these traditional flavors to life and enjoy high chai with samples from Zareen's during the presentation.
Zareen's Pakistani Kitchen: Recipes From a Well-fed Childhood is a beautiful collection of street food favorites and cherished family comfort foods from Karachi. It is designed to be accessible for every home cook, providing clear guidance on Desi pantry essentials and helpful substitutions to make Pakistani cooking approachable for everyone.
Signed copies of the cookbook will be available to purchase at the event while supplies last. We hope to see you there for an afternoon dedicated to family recipes, community, and delicious dishes.
Register ahead to get email reminders about the event. Registration does not guarantee entry. Seats are available on a first come, first served basis based on room capacity.
About Zareen: Born in Karachi Pakistan, Zareen is a Northeastern graduate who left her corporate career to start her food business in 2009. Hugely popular cooking classes led to her iconic namesake restaurant which specializes in Pakistani and North Indian food. Now a celebrated restaurateur, Zareen has a global following for her famed eponymous restaurant across four Bay Area locations. She has been covered in numerous print, online, and TV media (including PBS, NPR, Fox News, SF Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News etc.), and was profiled in “The Immigrant Cookbook” alongside renowned chefs Ivan Garcia, Jose Andres, and Daniel Boulud.
About Umair:
Umair is Founding Partner at Mentors Fund, Visiting Professor (teaching Entrepreneurship) at UC Berkeley, Founder of Folio3 Software, and co-owner of Zareen’s Restaurant Group in San Francisco. He is a fellow at the Aspen Institute and Board Member of the MIT CA Alumni Association. Umair is a thought leader, investor, and entrepreneur who speaks regularly on the future of work in the age of AI. Umair received his BS and MS from MIT