“Thinking back to living in Bombay, I realised every menu that carried a grilled cheese felt like an afterthought. There wasn't a single place that served banger grilled cheese and I wanted to fix that." Nuzha Ebrahim is the Chef and Founder of The Fromagerie and Kuckeliku Breakfast House. Ever since Nuzha learnt how to cook at the age of nine, she knew that she never wanted to stop cooking. She understood early on that within perfectly cooked, simple, everyday foods, be it kheema pav or a grilled cheese sandwich, lies the power to evoke a sense of community. In 2016, she spent a good part of the year living alone for the first time in Glasgow and found herself making a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches as an easy to fix meal. After getting to the semi finals on reality TV show Grilled, she realised her start-up idea had great potential and thought to explore it further by participating in pop-up events.
Get a sneak peek into Nuzha's story and her journey with The Fromagerie from our conversation with her below.
What made you start Fromagerie?
After getting to the semi finals on reality TV show Grilled, I realised my start-up idea had great potential and thought to explore it further by participating in pop-up events. My first event was The L'il Flea in 2017.
How did you come up with the idea?
In 2016, I spent a good part of the year living alone for the first time in Glasgow and found myself making a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches as an easy to fix meal. Even then the chef inside me would come up with various permutations and combinations striving to
create the perfect comfort meal. Thinking back to living in Bombay, I realised every menu that carried a grilled cheese felt like an afterthought. There wasn't a single place that served a banger grilled cheese and I wanted to fix that.
What are the challenges you faced and are facing?
Over the years, I realised the only perfect way to serve a grilled cheese was straight off the pan, which made pop-up events the perfect model to serve my product. Due to the covid pandemic, these events have indefinitely been put on hold so we've had to adapt the model into a DIY kit to ensure we preserve the integrity of the product.
How does your product stand out from any other?
We've taken care to ensure every single element in a fairly simple sandwich works in harmony with each other to create the perfect sandwich.
What is Fromagerie for you?
The Fromagerie is my first child. The community and kinship we've created at these events with our clients is incomparable to a professional restaurant setting.
How do we order our grilled cheese ?
Our DIY kits are available to order through Thrive or you can call/DM us directly because we miss connecting with people like we used to.
What's your vision for Fromagerie and where do you plan to take it?
We're hoping to return to a world where we may be able to serve our sandwiches fresh off the griddle once again, with a smile that we don't have to hide behind a mask and maybe even risk a high five!
Tell us something about yourself ?
I am the Chef and Founder of the Kuckeliku Breakfast House and The Fromagerie. Ever since I learnt how to cook at the age of nine, I knew that she never wanted to stop cooking. I understood early on that within perfectly cooked, simple, everyday foods, be it kheema pav or a grilled cheese sandwich, lies the power to evoke a sense of community. It is with this understanding that I hope to transform spaces, such as my café and pop-up stall, into communities wherein people can congregate and feel a sense of familiarity amongst strangers.
How did pop-ups and festivals help you as a brand?
Pop-ups are great because everyone (including us) is looking to have the best time. We've had the opportunity to enjoy people enjoying our products and get their feedback in real time. Despite the strenuous work and long hours, we're able to feed off the energy from the event and do the work we love.
The Fromagerie has been serving delicious grilled cheese sandwiches since our first event and we are so excited to have shared their story with our readers.