2019 Smith Fellow: Samantha Fore
Samantha Fore is the owner and chef of Tuk Tuk Sri Lankan Bites, a pop-up food operation in her hometown of Lexington, Kentucky. Previously a web designer for high-end restaurants, she began hosting traditional Sri Lankan brunches in her home. Word of the meals spread around Lexington and the guest list soon outgrew her dining room, resulting in regular pop-ups on Lexington’s developing north side neighborhood. She serves both traditional and Southern inflected interpretations of Sri Lankan food, largely influenced by her mother’s recipes and her formative years in the South.