It’s summertime, the living is easy, and a sultry season of celebrations stretches out before us. From big events to casual gatherings, a one-of-akind menu makes any occasion extra special. 

Just ask Chef Or Buskila, founder of a high-end catering service called Lumiere Catering — and the creator of PSY Street Kitchen, a casual kosher restaurant in Sherman Oaks. 

At Lumiere, which Buskila started in 2020, the Israeli-born chef provides upscale fare for a variety of events (up to 500 people) such as weddings, birthday or anniversary parties, red carpet galas, and any Jewish celebration, from Shabbat dinners to bat and bar mitzvahs, brises, and the high holidays. 

Not only does Buskila provide Shabbat catering for clients — he recently had one for about 300 people — but he also cooks Shabbat dinners at home for his friends every week. No two events are the same, and the chef prides himself on adding a unique touch for every client. “Each time I have a new job, I want it to top the last one,” he says. “I like to see the people enjoying the experience and talking about the food.” 

While the food is typically Mediterranean fusion with creative twists (eggplant carpaccio is a signature dish), one of Buskila’s guiding principles is to pay tribute to at least two of the four classical elements — earth, air, fire and water — in terms of flavors and textures. This concept, combined with his talent, quickly led to success; Buskila gets jobs all over the country and abroad, and he works for many celebrity clients. About two years ago, at the end of a job for a New York rabbi, Buskila was asked to stay an extra day and cook for a prominent visitor: the president of Guatemala. 

“When you try his food, you realize how powerful it is that the chef builds the dish for you, and it’s part of being connected to the elements of the universe,” says Rom Barel, Buskila’s business partner at Lumiere, as well as his best friend and sometimes-translator. “He is a genuine people person.

All he cares about is to make people feel good and give them moments of real joy, like they were kids — you know this joy like a kid who has no worries in life? That’s the kind of joy his food brings. Whoever the client is, this is the feeling they’re going to get, whether they’re famous or not.” 

As for what’s trending at events, they say raw fish stations “are a big deal now,” and Buskila has launched his own dessert carts, which can be ordered separately from the full catering package and have been a big hit at weddings. 

One of Buskila’s favorite indulgences is malabi — a panna cotta or pudding-like treat made with rose water, milk, pistachio and coconut — and it was his sweet tooth that pushed him on his current path. 

Buskila recalls: “During COVID, I was sitting at home, I’m thinking, I’m thinking, I’m thinking, what can I do? Because I don’t have money. And I started to sell Israeli desserts. I opened a small business and made regular deliveries to San Diego and Las Vegas.” 

But as quickly as he made money, he got bored, so he expanded the business. “I’m thinking I want to do something bigger, and boom! Lumiere comes,” he says. “I posted one time on Facebook on an Israeli/Los Angeles page introducing myself as a private chef, and wow! — a lot of people called me and asked me to do their events.” 

Word spread rapidly via social media, and Lumiere was an in-demand commodity. Says Barel: “He knew he would have competition, but he doesn’t focus on that, so he was surprised to realize that his competitors took notice like they did — in a way, they felt like he’s a threat — because he became big in a short time.” 

To be sure, Buskila has a knack for staying true to his vision. 

Barel points out: “He is very motivated, his goals and targets are very clear, and he knows exactly where he’s going. But before he gets bigger, he takes the time to maintain what he has, works on his systems, makes sure his systems are good and ready to go. Only then does he make the next move and the next move. I love that, and I’m proud to work with him. Or is 26, and I want to tell you: his behavior and how he does business —” 

At this point, Buskila interjects: “Whoa, whoa, whoa, sorry — 25!” 

“You’re gonna be 26 in a month.” 

“Two months,” the chef says. 

“So, he’s almost 26, and he’s thinking like a 50-year-old man!” 

Still, Buskila’s youthful energy helps him to overcome hurdles. For example, at a wedding in Mexico (cooking three days in a row for 400 people), he arrived to discover the groceries he ordered weren’t there, his team spoke no English, and the kitchen’s oven wasn’t working. So Buskila and his team went out and bought groceries; he cooked the meat with help from Sterno, and guests said the food was delicious. 

Says Barel: “All his events present unique challenges, but he is a solution person versus a problem person. He finds creative solutions for everything. I feel like that’s the reason people love him and love working with him.” 

Buskila reached a milestone when he opened PSY Street Kitchen in 2024 — a move he says most folks advised against. “You know how many people told me, ‘Don’t open a kosher restaurant’?” Buskila asks. “A lot of times, people say, ‘Don’t do this, don’t do that,’ but I feel like I know what I’m doing. The key is to work hard, be consistent and listen to your gut. I did it, and it turned out to be a success.” 

Nevertheless, Buskila acknowledges that it was “very hard, and there are a lot of challenges. I called Rom 20 times a day for help!” 

Barel explains: “He had a lot of experience in the kitchen, but he had no idea how to manage a restaurant, which is a completely different skill. He learned so quickly, and now we’re running like a year and a half or so. It’s rare to find a chef who’s a manager as well. That’s impressive.” With an appetite not just for cool food but for creative endeavors, Buskila uses his limited free time to hone his skills and share his offerings with more people, whether it’s developing a recipe or launching a new business. “I have something to do all the time,” he says, “and in October, I’m going to open another place.” 

Clearly, for Buskila, stress is not something to shy away from. In fact, it was the frenetic pace of a professional kitchen that drew him to the culinary arts in the first place. As a kid growing up in Israel, he started cooking at 14 years of age and avidly watched cooking shows on TV. “I told my mom, ‘I want to do what Gordon Ramsay does.’ I saw all the stress in the kitchen, and I told my mom, ‘I love it, I want to work like that.’” 

Though his mom initially discouraged cooking as a career choice, Buskila went to culinary school, graduating in 2015. Next, he landed a job at Mizlala, then a top restaurant in Tel Aviv, working alongside chef Meir Adoni. Getting the gig required him to sell his new skills. “I told him, ‘Listen, I want to work here.’ He told me, ‘No, you’re too young.’ I said, ‘Trust me, I’m very, very good.’ Give me a test.” 

Buskila passed that test and stayed at Mizlala for about a year, then worked with acclaimed chef Erez Komarovsky, among others. 

In 2019, when Buskila was 19, he came with his family (he is the youngest of three kids) to San Diego to support their father while he was having major surgery. By the time his father had recovered, Buskila decided he wanted to stay in the United States and start his life as a chef. Seeing more opportunity in Los Angeles than in San Diego, he headed north. “I came to L.A. alone with $2,000,” he says, noting that he soon found employment. “I worked at Mamilla on Pico Boulevard, a kosher restaurant.” 

These days, he returns to Israel about once a year to visit family, try restaurants in Tel Aviv, and go to the beach. 

Besides Buskila’s steadfast determination, he relies on his deep religious conviction for guidance. Barel explains: “His belief is extremely strong. Maybe because of what happened to his dad when Or was 19. Maybe that was the moment he started even more to believe.” 

Barel notes that Buskila prays every day, keeps Shabbat, and does tzedakah (donates money). “That is all part of being a good Jew,” Barel says. “And for Or, what’s in his heart aligns with his values and the set of rules he lives by. He feels gratitude, Baruch Hashem, he feels ein od milvado (there is no other God than God). He feels the angels around him, and he feels safe.”