Imad Alarnab, founder of Imad's Syrian Kitchen on A Little Bird

It takes a lot of spirit to open a restaurant in lockdown. Luckily, that’s something that Imad Alarnab, founder of Imad’s Syrian Kitchen has in spades. A successful chef and restauranteur, Imad owned a string of restaurants, cafes and juice bars in Damascus before all of these enterprises were destroyed in just one week of conflict in 2012. In search of a better life for his family, he made the arduous journey across Europe to London via Calais where he slept outside a church and cooked for his fellow refugees for several months. Fast forward a few years and we discovered Imad’s smiling face behind the doors of a pop up falafel bar in Soho. Lengthy queues signalled something good, in this case hot, crunchy falafel in soft wraps oozing with hummus. As well as providing a delicious lunch, each order gave a donation to the charity Choose Love. Love suffuses everything Imad puts his mind to, from his cooking to his first London restaurant that opened in Kingly Court this May. We asked him to share a bit about his journey to opening Imad’s Syrian Kitchen.

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What were your restaurants in Damascus like?

Some were in central Damascus and others in an old city called Castello, in regional Damascus. We could compare it the zone 2 and zone 6 of London. In all of them, I was trying to keep a friendly, family atmosphere.

What was it like getting from Syria to the UK?

Super difficult. I went through Libya, Lebanon, Turkey and Macedonia by smuggling inside lorries. The journey took three months but it felt like an eternity. But it was also great; meeting all of those people in Europe restored my trust in human beings.

Where did you learn to cook?

In my mother’s kitchen! She taught me all the secrets and beauties of Syrian food. To this day, I am still using her recipes.

What’s your favourite dish from your childhood?

Kabab Hindi, which is now on the menu of my restaurant! It’s a lamb and tomato-based dish, very traditional in Syria.

How has lockdown impacted you?

I found it very emotional and stressful. I thought that we would never go back to normal again and that was terrifying. I feared that maybe we would never socialise again. To be honest what I missed the most was hugging people, I am such a hugger so keeping my distance didn’t feel natural at all.

What’s your star dish at Imad’s Syrian Kitchen?

The lamb fillet and of course my falafel! I am very proud that people love them so much, as it’s my mum’s recipe.

You have raised a lot of money for Choose Love and £1 is added to every bill at your restaurant as a donation. Why is it such an important charity and how can people help?

All charities are important to me, not only Choose Love, but I love being transparent on the money we raise. Charities are really important for me because that is my way of giving back. And not only for refugees but for all human beings.

Where do you live?

I live in a very small town west of London, about 50 minutes drive from Heathrow. I love my community over there, I love my neighbours. Most importantly I have the luxury of life in the countryside and yet I can be in Soho in less than an hour. In London, it’s impressive to have such easy commuting.

What do you like about London?

I do love to be part of Soho; it represents my way of thinking with all these people together and so many different cultures around. For me, Soho represents London and London could represent the capital of the world. There are people, products and food from all over. Just in Kingly Court alone you can find Syrian food, Mexican food, Korean food, and many more… That’s the beauty of it.