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Chef rad na12/9/2023 He wanted to come home restored, and with a second location in mind for Smoque N’ Bones. For the first few days he established a routine of going for a good run, and then a dip in the ocean. He wanted to lose some weight so he planned an exercise regime. He found a quiet Airbnb rental, where he would play with some recipes, cooking for pleasure. He was single and planned to travel solo but he was convinced by friends to meet up with them in Aruba. In January 2017, Rad was feeling burnt out and in need of a restorative retreat. Simple, hearty, excellent…and award-winning. ![]() His original, from-scratch recipes and foods. “The minute we ended up opening, everyone was supportive…the community, my clientele.” The menu is small and exactly what Rad envisioned. He had started major construction in December of 2013, and he opened officially in May of 2014. In Farsi there is an expression, ‘you give yourself rosy cheeks by slapping yourself.’ Rad did everything he needed to do to make the restaurant work. Rumours flew in the neighbourhood about “some crazy guy giving away free food.” But the tactics worked. He even jackhammered the walls himself he points out a nearby imperfection, a jagged hole in the brick.ĭuring those first days, he made his potato salad recipe and he invited passersby in to taste and review his food. I promised her my concept would do well.” Rad was involved in every part of building his restaurant-the food, the menu, the staff. “The building meant a lot to her…She had inherited it. He found the landlord and the agency handling the location but the landlord wasn’t comfortable giving it to another food place. It didn’t fit to the neighbourhood.” He drove back the next week and saw a sign that it had closed. I had no brand, no collateral, landlords assumed barbecue would be smoky…it was an uphill battle. “I looked at so many places, nobody wanted to touch me. Then he built his business model based on his research, and on his “own style of barbecue, inspired by a little bit from every region, with a Canadian twist.”Įverywhere that Rad wanted to open, he couldn’t afford. But he ate at every other barbecue place he could find. Especially with Texas.” Rad saw the flaws in his concept-and he adapted. I realized how deep barbecue runs in America. There are four primary barbecue regions in the US-Texas, Carolina, Memphis and Kansas. “I used to cook all night long, hosting barbecues on my street.” I was interested in sandwiches.” Rad once again began researching he fed his neighbourhood-a hungry and willing focus group-while he taught himself to be a chef. “I was excited, I called Southern Pride, bought a smoker. I enjoy being around people, it is what helped me survive all these years, being around people,” says Rad.ĭid Rad know how to cook? No. If you throw a barbecue at home, you invite your entire family. Why barbecue? “I think it is humble food. He made some business decisions that left him at rock bottom. He was emotional, artistic, intuitive and drawn to people but highly-driven and he maintained high expectations of himself and of others. He was loved and protected in his family, but at times lonely. Rad reminisces about everything that led him to where he is today. My father had restaurants and hotels after the revolution.” Rad explains that in the culture in which he was raised, he was expected to be a doctor, lawyer or to do something in business. ![]() My dad used to say ‘if you can’t roll up your sleeves and adapt, you’re going to die.’” All the women in our family rebuilt our lives.” It was difficult for Alex, trying to fit into so many different cultures. His older brother had left Iran and was living in England. His father couldn’t leave the country initially. His family was dispersed across the globe. Some of those who stayed behind were imprisoned or executed. ![]() Rad says that most of his family left the country. ![]() His father was in politics and had roles with the government. Rad was born in Tehran just before the Iranian Revolution. But making assumptions about a person based on their appearance is just one of the problems Rad wants to tackle. To look at him, you wouldn’t know that this is a man who broke his neck in a catastrophic accident just months earlier. He has pushed his walker to the side of the table before sitting. He shakes my hand, and together we walk to a table where we hunker down for a long chat. Chef Alex Rad meets me at the door of the second-floor whisky room of his restaurant, Smoque N’ Bones.
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