The Wrapster, Mr Chef Rahman

We caught up with Dosh Rahman this week, a professional chef who’s built up quite a rep both on- and offline with his culinary skills and quirky persona.

Going by the sobriquet Mr Chef Rahman, or MCR for short, not only has our brother cooked for well established London restaurants, including as head chef for restaurateur Jasper Gorst’s The Oak W12, but has also presented cooking shows for the popular Islam Channel.

And if that wasn’t enough, he also has his own dedicated Youtube channel which he uses to, as he puts it, “pass on my cooking skills and techniques to help you gain more knowledge into cooking”.

Only recently though, MCR added to his achievements with an ambitious food venture that caught our attention.

So we requested an interview with this food meister to find out more about him and what makes him tick, and he was more than happy to oblige.

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If something is holding me back from western fine dining, it has to be the non-halal element!

Feed the Lion (FtL): What chef’s position do you hold, and are you planning on moving up the ladder?

Chef Rahman: I am currently head chef and owner of ‘The Wrapster’ brand with a street food and takeaway business in central London.

FtL: Who’s your role model in the culinary world and why?

Chef Rahman: My role model would be Jamie Oliver because he lived in the same area as me, and has successful businesses around here too. I also love his style of uncensored cooking.

FtL: What’s the highest accolade you’ve achieved or won during your career?

Chef Rahman: I have won cooking competitions back in chef college, and while cooking in various places I have had good food reviews from papers such as Timeout and The Times.

FtL: What would you say is your signature dish and why?

Chef Rahman: My signature dish changes as fast as I change food genres. I have cooked in many different styles and continents, but at the moment I’m taking the modern Indian route, and The Wrapster signature is definitely the onion bhaji wrap.

FtL: Any prize-winning dishes you’re particularly proud of?

Chef Rahman: Foie Gras is one of the most challenging dish’s I have cooked, and it is served with homemade chutney and brioche, which is tough!

The toughest thing [as a chef] is surely working 90+ hours a week and missing out on quality time with my wife and daughter.

FtL: What’s been your biggest obstacle towards becoming a qualified chef?

Chef Rahman: I can’t say that I have had any obstacles, but if something is holding me back from western fine dining, it has to be the non-halal element.

FtL: What are the most important qualities that make an outstanding chef?

Chef Rahman: The most important quality is the desire to cook, as well as the passion to get better and learn more.

FtL: What do you love most about your job?

Chef Rahman: That you can never learn everything, and there isn’t any time in a shift to not be doing something. My first job was at McDonald’s and the motto there was, ‘If you got time to learn you got time to clean.’

FtL: You’re running a Street Food stall in Hoxton Street Market in Hackney. Have you left the working kitchen for this? And if so, why? If not, what’s been your motivation in setting up such a stall?

Chef Rahman: I currently have the street food stall. The main reason for that was so I can cook what I want without any restrictions in pleasing investors.

FtL: You’re in the middle of opening up a new restaurant. What’s the theme behind it, and what type of cuisine will you be serving?

Chef Rahman: I have just opened a takeaway. It is located in the heart of Shoreditch – an area where time moves fast – and because of the size of the place, I decided on a takeaway where my specialty will be wraps – bespoke onion bhaji wraps made fresh to order.

FtL: What’s been the biggest obstacles you’ve faced so far, if any, in bringing this dream to fruition?

Chef Rahman: The toughest thing is surely working 90+ hours a week and missing out on quality time with my wife and daughter.

FtL: What advice would you give a budding chef who wants to make it big with halal food?

Chef Rahman: To budding chefs I would say: don’t do it for the money; do it for the passion to cook. Work hard; play hard; but be prepared to miss out on social life. And don’t give up because hard work definitely pays off in this trade.

FtL: What are your long term plans?

Chef Rahman: Long term plans will be to expand, and inshallah (God-willing) have a few global franchises globally.

FtL: And if there’s a dish that you’d recommend all the Lions out there, what would it be?

Chef Rahman: The dish I will surely recommend is the onion bhaji wrap or the Bengali doughnuts.

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