Chef Mohammad Orfali grew up in Aleppo and now runs Orfali Bros in Dubai, one of the region's most talked-about restaurants. He talks about the street food he grew up on, why he built a Michelin-starred kitchen that plays hip-hop, and how he cooks without alcohol while still making food that feels rich and complete. He also explains why home cooking matters to him, and why he refuses to cook the same tired dishes that sell well but say nothing.
Chef Mohammad Orfali grew up in Aleppo and now runs Orfali Bros in Dubai, one of the region's most talked-about restaurants. He talks about the street food he grew up on, why he built a Michelin-starred kitchen that plays hip-hop, and how he cooks without alcohol while still making food that feels rich and complete. He also explains why home cooking matters to him, and why he refuses to cook the same tired dishes that sell well but say nothing.
00:00 A Shared Culinary Inheritance
01:05 Setting the Scene at the Test Kitchen
04:05 Unpacking the Identity of Aleppan Cooking
06:51 Historical Crossroads and Flavor Migrations
10:59 Craftsmanship, Preservation, and Tradition
19:46 Rethinking Traditional Culinary Education
26:59 Breaking Conventions in Modern Dining
31:18 Blending Music, Culture, and Ambiance
41:40 Evolving the Menu for a New Era
51:07 The Unseen Realities of Restaurant Management
Mohammad Orfali is a Syrian chef and co-owner of Orfali Bros Bistro in Dubai. He is specialized in Aleppian cuisine and contemporary Arabic cuisine and is the leading Arab proponent of modern cooking. He grew up in Aleppo, where he studied at the Institut Hôtelier of Aleppo in 1997. He pursued further studies at Le Nôtre Culinary School in Paris in 2009. He is also credited with hosting the Middle East's first Arabic gastronomy cooking shows. Orfali Bros Bistro, which he runs with his brothers Wassim (pastry) and Omar (pastry), has been named the best restaurant in the Middle East and North Africa for three consecutive years (2023, 2024, 2025) by The World's 50 Best Restaurants, and ranked #37 in the world in 2025. He coined the term 'Orfari cuisine' to describe food that defies geographic labels, is not fusion, and tells stories through ingredients where every bite holds emotional and historical resonance.
Connect with Mohammad Orfali 👉 https://www.instagram.com/m.orfali/?hl=en
Hosted by Mikey Muhanna
Connect directly with Mikey Muhanna 👉 https://instagram.com/mikey_mu
Theme music: Peninsular, Tarek Yamani 🔊 https://spoti.fi/47I59ns