New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
New name, same passion
Ali Baba’s Kitchen undergoes some changes, but the flavor remains
HAMDEN — A family-owned halal restaurant in town, formally known as Ali Baba’s Fusion, is rebranding in hopes of offering customers a more healthconscious and vibrant eating experience.
Now known as Ali Baba’s Kitchen, the restaurant kicked off its new chapter with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, along with a lighter food line-up, website revamp and new signage. But while many changes are underway for the restaurant, one thing remains the same: its inspiration.
Named after the famous folk tale, “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves,” the establishment aims to be a treasure for all.
“Just how Ali Baba finds treasure when he says ‘Open Sesame,’ we want customers to find treasure when they open their food,” said Huda Khalid, the restaurant’s marketing manager and eldest daughter of husband and wife business owners Jamshed and Sobia Khalid.
While only a slight change, the new name better captures the restaurant’s essence, the family said. By adding “kitchen” to the restaurant’s name, they could remind customers that Ali Baba’s is a personal restaurant.
“We often had people come in and think that we offer authentic couscous, but it’s definitely our version,” Khalid said. “It’s something you would have if you were eating in our home kitchen.”
Ali Baba’s Kitchen offers fusion dishes inspired by Indian, Pakistani and Middle Eastern cuisines with a Western kick. Their specialty? Flavor, said Khalid.
“Not just flavor that has heat, but something that caters to all palates. I’ve met a lot of picky eaters and they tend to take to our food really well. We’ve had customers let us know that once they’ve had us, they can’t stop coming back. We’re like a hidden treasure.” she added.
Some fan favorites, since the locale opened in 2014, include its signature lemon chicken, gyros and kati rolls — a flaky burrito-style roll native to the streets of India.
But paying close attention to food
trends, the Khalids wanted to “cast a wider net” moving forward. As they saw more people turn to healthful food options, they crafted a variety of new, lowcarb options for Ali Baba’s Kitchen including ginger chicken, tamarind-glazed chicken wings and a sauteed vegetable option with any platter, to name a few.
While it’s a fresh take, the Khalids are no strangers to the food industry or large-scale transitions at that. The family first made their splash in the New Haven food scene in the early 2000s when they ran one of the first custom-order South Asian food carts in the area, according to Khalid.
Today, they own the restaurant as well as a total of six carts. But due to the coronavirus pandemic, only one cart is operating at the moment.
“Transitioning from food carts to a brick-and-mortar was a different beast altogether,” Khalid said. “But now we’re lucky to be able to focus on our restaurant, although we won’t ever forget our start.”
The pandemic has shut many doors in the restaurant industry, but Ali Baba’s Kitchen is one of the lucky few. Accord
ing to Khalid, they’ve seen more new customers this year than ever before thanks to the push on food delivery apps.
Now ready to expand, Ali Baba’s Kitchen also has announced franchising opportunities. This is a significant milestone for the family, Khalid said.
“There aren’t a lot of halal restaurant franchises, so we want to be able to give the opportunity to other Muslim business owners who are interested in starting a business with some framework in place,” she added.
Jamshed and Sobia Khalid immigrated to the United States from Pakistan in the mid-1980s and never imagined how far they would come. In fact, their initial business idea was a beauty salon. But one thing led to another and now they’re almost 20 years deep in the food industry.
“Honestly it was natural for them to go into this industry. Being Pakistani, a lot of our culture is built on being hospitable,” Khalid said. “If you ever visit Pakistani household, you’ll never leave hungry and you’ll always be well-respected. That’s something they really carried through their business here.”