About

S. Farhan Mustafa

I am a Greenville, NC, native based in Seattle, WA. I’ve worn many hats: lab researcher, freelance writer, waiter, prep/line cook, economist, consultant and startup founder. I was also an investigative producer for Al Jazeera during the Arab Spring, where I produced news pieces, documentaries and did a lot of investigating. I know, that part impresses me too. I wish I could say I was like Mariska Hargitay from Law & Order SVU, but I’m more a Detective Munch kind of person. Now, I’m just your normal head of product at an AI startup.

I won a James Beard Media Award in 2024 in the personal essay category. My work has been published in the SFA’s Gravy, the Bitter Southerner, Texas Monthly and Serious Eats. I also made a short film for the SFA Symposium in 2022. As a food critic in college, I was más o menos banned from the first restaurant I reviewed. I’ve also been written about in startup-y publications like the Nieman Lab and Crunchbase News.

Now, I write about the cultural and community connections we have with food and the expressions we create from them. Oh yeah and stuff like food history, diaspora, identity politics, xenophobia, community healing, cultural evolution, an oversharing of personal anecdotes, whatever it takes. Above all that, I like to connect with people and hear their stories and share them too.

I’m currently at work on a few book proposals, some food videos, making sweatshirts and making sure robots don’t actually replace us (yet). I will still defend any meat & 3 or diner or Southern buffet, including Golden Corral, with my life.