I must admit that it was slightly embarrassing when my stomach growled as I conducted my interview with Mohammed Rahman, owner of Kwik Meal, a food cart located on the corner of 45th Street and Sixth Avenue. Of course, it was not entirely my fault. Coming from inside the cart were tantalizing smells that would attract the attention of most passersby—and attract attention they have.
Besides a constant stream of midtown cubicle inhabitants, Kwik Meal has been visited by Bobby Flay, who came for a taste of the falafel, and New York Magazine, which chose it as a Critics’ Pick. The latest honor bestowed upon this cart is a nomination for the Vendy Awards, which will take place on Oct. 18 in Brooklyn.
The food sold at Kwik Meal is a combination of American, Middle Eastern, and Bangladeshi cuisine. Both Middle Eastern favorites such as lamb or chicken on pita, and American classics such as steak and cheese are infused with typical Bangladeshi spices, creating an international offering of food to a cosmopolitan crowd.
For Rahman, whose family owned a restaurant during his childhood, going into the food business was not a huge leap. With a strong background in cooking—culinary school in Canada and a stint at Russian Samovar, a Russian restaurant in the Theater District—Rahman’s primary concern is to “serve good quality food that is easy and cheap for average people who can’t go to good restaurants."
His devotion to his job is clear—Rahman is always dressed in a starched, white chef’s uniform, complete with a toque (the tall, white chef’s hat). Every day, he is at his cart from 7:30 in the morning to 11 at night, overseeing the sale of the food he personally marinates and prepares. “If I don’t like it,” he said, “I don’t sell it.”
Currently, Rahman owns two carts, though he used to own three. Recently, one of Rahman’s $20,000 carts was stolen right out of the garage where he kept it at night. Rahman’s future plans include possibly setting up a new cart, and definitely opening an Italian fast food restaurant close to Columbia and its hungry population.
Only a block away from Rahman stands a fellow Bangladeshi and Vendy competitor, Meru Sikder of the Biriyani Cart. This restaurant on wheels is known for Indian food such as chicken tikka masala, chicken biryani, and Sikder’s signature dish, the Kati Roll. This roll, which he describes as an “Indian taco” can be filled with a number of ingredients, ranging from potatoes to chicken. The spices he uses all come from the Indian town of Hyderabad.
His food is “very spicy, very popular, and not the way Americans usually make it,” Sikder said.
Sikder has been in the food business for eight years, beginning as a banquet chef in the Hilton Hotel in New Jersey. When Sikder decided to venture out on his own, he decided to start small—a simple food cart. As his popularity increased he added a second, and since then the lines have only grown. Whether he’ll continue to expand depends on the atmosphere of the industry and the amount of time he can make what with his two current carts.
For both Rahman and Sikder, the Vendys are an honor. Though both say that they are friendly, it is in a slightly restrained manner that hints at something more competitive brewing underneath the surface. As Sikder said, “It’s a fact that five out of ten thousand carts were picked for the Vendys. Two of the guys are from Bangladesh ... we’ll see what happens.”
The fourth annual Vendy Awards will take place Saturday, Oct. 18 from 3-7 p.m. at the Tabasco Warehouse in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Tickets are $80. For more information, visit streetvendor.org.
