Chef Ali Mandhry's story is that of a man completely in control of his destiny. Over the years, he has grown into arguably Kenya's top chef with a cult-like following on his various media platforms.
Speaking exclusively to Kenyans.co.ke, Ali detailed his journey towards establishing his brand as one of the most sought after chefs in the country.
"I started like any other hopeful chef, by making ugali using soil as a 6-year-old. My folks noticed how focused I was during this delicate process and they could already tell my destiny was in the kitchen," he narrated amid a hearty chuckle.
Chef Ali gives off the vibe of a humble yet extremely confident person.
By the time he was in Class Six, the 12-year-old wasn't quite confident enough to come clean to his classmates.
Unknown to them, the assorted creamy and sumptuous cakes he used to deliver to school for their birthdays weren't prepared by his sister, which was the cover story he used to peddle back then.
"I had to maintain my cool-kid persona complete with spiky hair," he confessed before bursting out in laughter.
However, the important bit was that he was now confident about his baking and was turning in a sizeable chunk of profit from a very young age.
To break it down, the budding chef used Ksh120 as his total production cost and sold the birthday cakes at Ksh300. Making 150% profit per cake, not bad for a 12-year-old spiky-haired chef.
By the time he got to his final year in primary school, he finally came clean to his classmates on his exceptional culinary skills. As it turns out, this made him even more popular, especially among the ladies.
He was now certain that this was his calling and upon completing high school, he started his chef apprenticeship at the Sarova Whitesands in Mombasa before joining Kenya Utalii College where he studied food production, eventually earning his stripes after 3 years.
Ali moved back to Sarova Whitesands but just 4 months later, his former college called him up and offered him a job as a lecturer.
The opportunity, he says, was just too good to ignore.
"I became the youngest lecturer there as I was just 21 at the time, it seemed surreal that I was teaching men and women well above my age, but I took it in stride," he explained.
His 2-year tenure as a lecturer turned out to be the catalyst for his big break.
As one of the youngest chef prodigies, word of his skills behind the grill soon spread and offers for interviews started flooding in.
It was during this stage of his journey that the Chef Ali Mandhry brand was born.
He landed a gig at Citizen TV where his Power Breakfast cooking show had journalists and viewers drooling.
The renowned chef has since had the opportunity to showcase his skills on a Dubai TV show alongside world-renowned Chef Osama El-Sayed.
"That has to be the highlight of my career. I was cooking alongside my idol, my mentor, the man who had and still inspires me in my career, it was just an out-of-this-world experience to be invited to cook alongside him on his show," he remarked.
The two have gone on to host several shows together before the global Covid-19 pandemic struck.
Despite having all his Nairobi gigs cancelled and seeing his normal rates slashed due to the harsh economic effects of the virus, Chef Ali maintains a positive outlook.
"The various restrictions meant I was now unable to commute to Nairobi for my gigs over there, however, I also believe that God used 2020 to tell us to just chill and bond with family," the devout Muslim, husband and father explained.
He has since channeled his energy towards growing his social media presence, with his Instagram page registering a spike of over 40K followers since the pandemic.
His Citizen TV Thursday show is also back starting this week, with the raw footage being shot at his home in Mombasa.
Chef Ali was quick to castigate the stereotypes revolving around men in the kitchen.
"It is written that Prophet Muhammad used to help out in house chores which typically includes cooking. Yes, we have mostly grown up seeing our mothers in the kitchen but that does not mean that it's their mandated role, they do it to take care of the family. Cooking is simply for everyone," he reiterated.
The gifted chef had his sights on publishing his cookbook this year but has had to hold off on it due to the pandemic.
He joked that 2020 was like a dead year but maintained his hunger to put Kenya on the world map through his book which he revealed was only filled with authentic Kenyan dishes.
