Imad Alarnab is a Syrian chef, but he’s not a regular chef. He’s an entrepreneur, soon-to-be cookbook author and a refugee who ran three successful restaurants, several juice bars and cafés back in his native Damascus. His businesses were destroyed in the Syrian war, and he made the dangerous journey to the UK via Calais, where he slept outside a church and cooked for his fellow refugees, up to 400 people at a time. 

In 2015, he arrived in London with £12 to his name. In the early days he worked as a car washer and salesman before finding his way back to the kitchen, where he ran hugely popular pop-ups and sold-out supper clubs while fundraising for the refugee charity Choose Love (to which £1 of each bill from Imad’s is donated). Eventually, he crowdfunded £50,000 to launch his first restaurant, Imad’s Syrian Kitchen, in Kingly Court in the heart of London’s Soho.

“It’s really hard to put into words, to explain the pain and hurt when you lose your own city,” Alarnab says. “Trying to find a new city to love, it’s not an easy job, but finding London is a true dream come true. As a refugee, this is what I was born to do – sharing my story, my culture and food. I am the luckiest person being part of such a welcoming multicultural city.”

Since opening last year, Imad’s Syrian Kitchen has received rave reviews and been packed out almost every night, and with good reason; the Syrian dishes on offer are piquant, colourful and are a celebration of good times with friends and family. The veggie-centric menu features crispy falafel discs, charred aubergine skin filled with baba ganouj, and fluffy, round pitta.

“I wanted my second home to get a taste of my native home,” he says. “We’re still finding our feet, but we’re slowly growing and getting there. We started with three suppliers. Now, we have at least eight suppliers using REKKI.”

So far, Alarnab’s time in London has been full of support and encouragement, but he struggles to find and source Middle Eastern ingredients for his restaurant. 

“We found our new butcher, The Butchers Block, with REKKI when we were specifically looking for organic ingredients,” he says. “To be honest, I don’t like to switch suppliers, and I’m very loyal to [them], but sometimes it’s difficult to know where to look or shop when you need a new or specific product.”

Despite the day-to-day restaurant admin woes, for Alarnab it’s important to find authentic ingredients to reflect a taste of Syrian cuisine. From using sour cherry molasses to biber salçası (Turkish pepper paste) and kabseh spices, there’s a certain level of standard to ensure the quality of cooking is up to par. Aside from finding the right quality of ingredients, Alarnab also has a level of care and priority to ensure that his staff are happy and well looked after. 

“I feel sorry for my chefs because they were spending a lot of time ordering ingredients and products for the next morning after an exhausting service working in the kitchen all day,” he says. “Instead of searching for emails and making loads of calls trying to get your orders in before cut-off time, it’s all available from one platform. You can easily speak to all your different suppliers, and if you forget an item or find that something is missing from your order you can communicate with suppliers straightaway.” 

After everything he has been through escaping a war zone, leaving everything behind and starting anew, Alarnab never dreamed he could rebuild his restaurants in the UK, but he’s exactly where he wants to be, sharing his generous heart to help and feed others. 

“I’m happy, healthy and I love what I do. Work doesn’t feel like work and that’s how it should be. Work shouldn’t be hard, and having an app that does all the hard work for you – it’s a big help,” Alarnab explains. “REKKI changes the way you order and how you communicate with your suppliers, but it doesn’t replace any relationships.”

Imad’s Syrian Kitchen, 14 Top Floor, Kingly Court, Carnaby St, London W1B 5PW