Chef Nyesha Arrington, who has worked in some of the best kitchens across the country and competed in Top Chef, recently opened Leona, her own restaurant in Venice featuring progressive California cuisine deeply influenced by her earliest memories of cooking Korean dishes with her grandmother. It's food that she describes as a "hug from the inside."

Santa Monica's Tastemade Studios visits the chef in its latest episode of HERITAGE, a series that learns the personal stories behind the chefs and the flavors that inspire them.