Pakistan: Man from Islamabad shares how he went from a humble cook to soon-to-be café owner
Ahsan Irshad, known as ‘#daguywhocooks’ on the internet, enjoys cooking outdoors
A cook based in the city of Islamabad, Pakistan, has shared how he went from being a humble road-side vendor to opening his own café and the internet is applauding him for sharing his “motivational” journey.
In a series of tweets, food enthusiast Ahsan Irshad who describes himself as “a computer science guy who loves to cook”, shared how his vision of starting an eatery is about to come to life.
“As [the] opening of my cafe is around the corner I couldn't help but look back at the days when I started this journey, what you see didn't happen in single night, took me years, most of you don't know but now I feel like y'all should know that I started this journey with an outdoor stall,” @daguywhocooks tweeted with a picture of his soon-to-open cafe.
Talking about the humble infrastructure of his food stall, from where he started selling his food, he wrote: “There was no shop, just one tarpaulin [sheet] on top, table and grill.” The post was accompanied by a picture of Irshad standing at his food stall serving dishes in styrofoam containers.
Irshad, who also has thousands of followers on his Instagram account and and YouTube channel that mainly features his cooking ventures, wrote what made him share his journey on the internet: “I am not sharing this story and pictures for some social media clout but as motivation to all who are struggling with their goals and passion, for the love of passion you have to do anything, never be afraid of doing anything, don't feel ashamed even if you have to start from zero.”
According to a 2019 article on a Pakistan-based food magazine website, the 26-year-old quit his job in 2019 as a software expert dealing in information security and graphic designing to pursue his passion for cooking fulltime. Irshad enjoys experimenting with different recipes and he is currently developing recipes for his café. The cook has also combined his love for trekking and food, and is seen cooking outdoors in many of his posts.
Social media users were quick to wish him well and appreciated him for sharing his struggles.
Tweep @venturi_max wrote: “Best of luck and hope all your hard work pays off!”
Twitter user @Aiza_Azam posted: “More power to you, Ahsan. It takes guts and courage of conviction to take the first step, particularly if conditions are not ideal…”