About Debb

Hi, I’m Debb Michail,

I founded Tavus Foods to share my big, beautiful, Perisan family’s cherished culinary traditions with you. 

From festive ritualistic dinners to casual Sunday get—togethers, great food was always the key ingredient to our most memorable times as a family. 

Together, we munched on juicy Kabob wrapped around greasy Lavash bread. Together, we reveled in the sounds of garlic sizzling away. Together, we folded the caramelized garlic into grilled unctuous eggplant to make my favorite dip, Kashk o’ Bademjun. 

It was these healthy, delicious flavors and soothing textures of my family’s homemade dishes that inspired my career in food. 

I’ve had the pleasure of working in some of the world’s most highly acclaimed Californian restaurants, delighting taste buds as a private chef around the globe, and selling out a pop—up series of fire cooked communal dining experiences around Los Angeles. A highlight was developing recipes for cooking shows with culinary icon Nancy Silverton, who even put my “Giant Toasted Almond Cookie” recipe in her cookbook The Cookie that Changed My Life”!

With every unforgettable adventure, my dream has remained: to come home to the powerful flavors of Persia and share them with you.

That’s why I’m ecstatic to introduce you to Tavus Foods, a very personal expression of deliciousness from my family —my heart — to you and in honor of my great grandmother Tavus, the matriarch of our family who lived to be 102 years old.

“Tavus,” Farsi: Peacock