Name: Nima Algooneh

Restaurant: The Untitled Deli

Title: Untitled

FAVES

Chef: Juan Mari and Elena Arzak.

Cooking show: Good Eats – gets to the nerdy mechanisms of cooking

Cookbook: Heston Blumenthal at Home, The Food Lab, Modernist Cooking

Q: What experience most defined your decision and desire to get into the food industry?

I wanted a rare roast beef sandwich with horseradish; something I couldn’t have in Kuwait. No one made it or imported it, so I said to myself, “Aaah hell. I’ll just make the damn thing myself.” Gave some to friends; one became greedy, now he’s my partner.

Q: What do you love the most about your current job?

It’s really satisfying to hear positive responses from people after spending years researching, studying and lying awake in bed wondering what I’ve gotten myself into.

Q: Where is your favorite place to shop for food and ingredients in Kuwait?

It’s fun to go directly to farms with the kids and pull out beets and carrots. I can generally rely on Lulu to have a pretty impressive produce section.

Q: What food most reminds you of your family’s house, and why?

Fresh lavash bread. My favorite bread in the world.

Q: When you want to go somewhere else to eat, where do you go and why?

Korean: Probably because we go so infrequently that everyone is usually game to hit it up and it’s a bit of a hidden gem.

Q: Who in the world would you most like to cook for?

You! Oh valued (paying) customer, you are the most important person in the world to me when I make food.

Q: Name 3 ingredients that start with the first letter of your name.

Nuts? Nutmeg? Norwegian salmon? Is that fair?

Q: What do you think will be the biggest food trend of 2018?

I see a trend moving away from franchises from abroad and more towards smaller hyper-focused local places doing a few things perfectly rather than encyclopaedic mediocre menus. Challenge Kuwait with something new, and you’d be surprised by the response you would receive. Someone please start with Vietnamese.

Read bazaar’s full review of The Untitled Deli here

The Untitled Deli is located at the Pearl Marzouq complex next to The Scientific Center . Follow The Untitled Deli on Instagram @theuntitleddeli, and check out their website at www.theuntitleddeli.com