On our radar: Chef Mishael Ahmed

How did you get into cooking?
My mother is a baker. I come from a very big family; I’m one of seven kids, so I was in the kitchen from a very early age. I moved to Brighton from Birmingham, where I grew up and got my first cheffing job at The Pond. From there, I moved on to Shelter Hall. As soon as I mastered one kitchen there, I was like, “Oh, give me another kitchen to work in”, so I was working at four kitchens pretty much at the same time.

I then met chef Kanthi Thamma of The Spice Circuit Kitchen, and he invited me to assist him with some of his pop-ups. I also did a few months at Salt Shed. I learned a lot from them about grilling and the balance of flavours and pairing pickles and meats, which was incredibly helpful for the Pickle Party events that I’ve been running this year. I moved from there to Kitgum Kitchen, where a lot of my skills were really shaped. Then I decided to go freelance because I’m not good at just doing one job; I like spinning a lot of plates and doing a lot of things.

What was s the inspiration behind your first pop-up, ‘Dastarkwaan’ that you staged at The Greenhouse in April 2026?
Dastarkwaan takes its name from the Urdu term for a ceremonial tablecloth. This menu is a tribute to the flavours of my childhood and Friday evenings spent gathered on the floor on a Dastarkwaan with my family, sharing our favourite dishes together. The menu consists of Pakistani food, Afghani food, and some Chinese elements. I love being really ingredients-focused and fusing them with loads of different techniques and cultures. My mother was an amazing chef; she cooked so many different cuisines, including Afghan, Lebanese, Syrian and Middle Eastern food in general, so she is a big influence.

Being Pakistani and working at Kitgum was really awesome because we made a lot of Pakistani recipes that were really authentic, so I wanted to pull that in as well because I’ve seen how easy it is to marry the flavours of Afghani food and Pakistani food.

Anytime I’m at home and I’m meal prepping for myself, it somehow seems to always be Chinese food. I’m really obsessed with Szechuan flavours, and so I’ve got the little theme of Szechuan running throughout the menu as well.

What else do you have coming up?
I work for a chef called Marios Miliorellis. He’s incredible. He’s had some experience at Noma. I have been helping him out the last few months, running his pop-up kitchens in North and East London, doing Greek and French fine dining. I also run cooking classes and do some private dining events in Morocco. I’m trying to attack every area of cheffing whilst also trying to do social media at the same time. Somehow, it calms my brain having multiple jobs. I will be posting any and all dates of my future events and classes on my Instagram @on.the.road.to.mishelin.