Considered a pioneer of elevated Levantine cuisine, Chef Moeen Abuzaid always imagined bringing his craft to the global stage. Taking a leap of faith, with only a few words of English, he moved himself to New York City from Amman, Jordan in 2009 in pursuit of his dreams.
“I became a chef by accident. It’s true, I grew up in Jabal Al Taj, Jordan, just a short drive from Al-Wehdat refugee camp, where my mother, from Lod and my father from Yaffa, lived as refugees.”
Moeen, discovered his passion for the culinary arts and ingredients at a very young age. He started his journey at eighteen years old working in some of the most world renown hotels in the Jordan.
In 2009, his journey and desire to be known for elevated Arabic cuisine brought him to New York City. While working with global chefs to further expand his palate and discover new ingredients, he started to infuse these flavours into traditional Arabic favourites. In a relentless pursuit to master technique and express his personal style, he acknowledges the incredibly vast world of fine gastronomy that has influenced his technique and pushed him to create his own style of cuisine. After over ten years in NYC, he spent a great deal of time collaborating and sharing with world renowned chefs. Pursuing his dream of elevating Arabic cuisine, he conceptualized and opened his successful pop-up in NYC called “The Broken English”.
Moeen’s path brought him to Toronto in 2019 where he continued to create and collaborate all over the world. Today he continues to craft new dishes, paying homage to the cuisine of his region, while re-imagining classic Arabic food through international techniques and local ingredients.