When Rushad Wadia, the owner and chef at The Greedy Man Pizzeria,started his pizzeria soon after graduating from the International Centre for Culinary Arts, Dubai, little did he know what future had in store for him.
Rushad is still in awe when he talks about how his "one little idea", the pizzeria, managed to bag the Times Food Noteworthy Newcomer Award for 2016. This was then followed by The Best Pizzeria Award in consecutive years.
Let us find out what Rushad has got to say about his experience with the pizzeria, awards, and his journey so far as a chef and an entrepreneur.
How does it feel to be a successful entrepreneur at such a young age?
Rushad: Honestly, I do not know if I am there yet to being successful.There is so much to learn in this industry, and I have just started with one little idea hoping for it to transform into something magical. So, the moment I have that magical feeling is when I can call myself a successful entrepreneur.
Tell us about your Times Food Awards experiences. Did life change after your win?
Rushad: The first award was a real shocker to the entire team. It had been only three months into opening the restaurant. One fine day we get a call saying that The Greedy Man has won the Prestigious New Comer Award at the Times Food Awards! I think I went blank for a few seconds, but slowly it started to sink in when the awards started coming home quite often after that.
Life has changed in the most beautiful way for us after winning the awards. We started getting recognized for our different Neapolitan styles of pizza. Now,people have now started to accept our style of pizza over the other pizzerias in the city, which in itself is a huge accomplishment.
What influenced you the most in your decision to go ahead with a pizzeria?
Rushad: When the plan of starting a food joint came along, my mind said Persian Cuisine, but my heart said PIZZA! I honestly do not know why we decided to get into the pizzeria but we are glad we did. I felt it is a beautiful art that needs to be shown in its true form that is from making the dough from scratch to hand tossing. However, not many pizzerias are doing it in the right way here.
How is food sourced at The Greedy Man pizzeria?
Rushad: All our vegetables and Meat cuts come from the local morning market here every day. We order everything as per the number of pizzas we make each day. We believe in Quality over Quantity and that is why we limit ourselves to only 60 to 65 pizzas a day. We are soon going to start making our own buffalo mozzarella, so we are really excited about that.
What are the bestsellers of the pizzeria?
Rushad: The classic Margherita and our Nutella Freak Shake.
How did you manage to build such confidence to embark on entrepreneurship so early in your career?
Rushad: : ICCA Dubai was definitely a blessing for me.Throughout the course ICCA taught me to be focused, organized, to understand how a kitchen is, and also to have a little fun now and then.
You need to be on your toes every single second during your service time. ICCA helped me achieve a good speed in the kitchen, and most importantly the confidence and a free mentality to take some risks, and that Small Risk I took then is called ‘The Greedy Man Pizzeria’ today.
How much are you in touch with your ICCA Alumni network?
Rushad: I am in touch with everyone. You become a family in those three months. We had our stupid fights during our college time but when you graduate,you come out as one batch, as one big Chef family and I am so proud of where everyone is and what they have achieved so far.
What would you look for if you were in the position to hire new graduates from ICCA Dubai?
Rushad: Someone who has a free-thinking, who is ready to take some risk and with good speed.
Do you have any advice you would like to give the students who want to become entrepreneurs like you?
Rushad: Believe in yourself but most importantly believe in your product.People will come running down to criticize you, but you must believe in the product that you serve.
We are extremely proud to know where our alumnus, the pride of ICCA Dubai stands in their professional lives today. We are glad we could be apart of their culinary journey. On this note, we are wishing Rushad Wadia more success,and just a lot of magic for his journey.
When Rushad Wadia, the owner and chef at The Greedy Man Pizzeria,started his pizzeria soon after graduating from the International Centre for Culinary Arts, Dubai, little did he know what future had in store for him.
Rushad is still in awe when he talks about how his "one little idea", the pizzeria, managed to bag the Times Food Noteworthy Newcomer Award for 2016. This was then followed by The Best Pizzeria Award in consecutive years.
Let us find out what Rushad has got to say about his experience with the pizzeria, awards, and his journey so far as a chef and an entrepreneur.
How does it feel to be a successful entrepreneur at such a young age?
Rushad: Honestly, I do not know if I am there yet to being successful.There is so much to learn in this industry, and I have just started with one little idea hoping for it to transform into something magical. So, the moment I have that magical feeling is when I can call myself a successful entrepreneur.
Tell us about your Times Food Awards experiences. Did life change after your win?
Rushad: The first award was a real shocker to the entire team. It had been only three months into opening the restaurant. One fine day we get a call saying that The Greedy Man has won the Prestigious New Comer Award at the Times Food Awards! I think I went blank for a few seconds, but slowly it started to sink in when the awards started coming home quite often after that.
Life has changed in the most beautiful way for us after winning the awards. We started getting recognized for our different Neapolitan styles of pizza. Now,people have now started to accept our style of pizza over the other pizzerias in the city, which in itself is a huge accomplishment.
What influenced you the most in your decision to go ahead with a pizzeria?
Rushad: When the plan of starting a food joint came along, my mind said Persian Cuisine, but my heart said PIZZA! I honestly do not know why we decided to get into the pizzeria but we are glad we did. I felt it is a beautiful art that needs to be shown in its true form that is from making the dough from scratch to hand tossing. However, not many pizzerias are doing it in the right way here.
How is food sourced at The Greedy Man pizzeria?
Rushad: All our vegetables and Meat cuts come from the local morning market here every day. We order everything as per the number of pizzas we make each day. We believe in Quality over Quantity and that is why we limit ourselves to only 60 to 65 pizzas a day. We are soon going to start making our own buffalo mozzarella, so we are really excited about that.
What are the bestsellers of the pizzeria?
Rushad: The classic Margherita and our Nutella Freak Shake.
How did you manage to build such confidence to embark on entrepreneurship so early in your career?
Rushad: : ICCA Dubai was definitely a blessing for me.Throughout the course ICCA taught me to be focused, organized, to understand how a kitchen is, and also to have a little fun now and then.
You need to be on your toes every single second during your service time. ICCA helped me achieve a good speed in the kitchen, and most importantly the confidence and a free mentality to take some risks, and that Small Risk I took then is called ‘The Greedy Man Pizzeria’ today.
How much are you in touch with your ICCA Alumni network?
Rushad: I am in touch with everyone. You become a family in those three months. We had our stupid fights during our college time but when you graduate,you come out as one batch, as one big Chef family and I am so proud of where everyone is and what they have achieved so far.
What would you look for if you were in the position to hire new graduates from ICCA Dubai?
Rushad: Someone who has a free-thinking, who is ready to take some risk and with good speed.
Do you have any advice you would like to give the students who want to become entrepreneurs like you?
Rushad: Believe in yourself but most importantly believe in your product.People will come running down to criticize you, but you must believe in the product that you serve.
We are extremely proud to know where our alumnus, the pride of ICCA Dubai stands in their professional lives today. We are glad we could be apart of their culinary journey. On this note, we are wishing Rushad Wadia more success,and just a lot of magic for his journey.
