Ibrahim’s Story

Ibrahim is the resident Head Chef at Unlocking Potential. He has been working in the culinary industry for over ten years and never ceases to amaze with his innovative and delicious recipes.

Ibrahim was born in Cote D’Ivoire and moved to Paris when he was young to live with his Uncle. Ibrahim’s Uncle worked as a chef in a large Parisian kitchen and Ibrahim would often help with the chopping after school. Other cooks in the kitchen recognized his talent and insisted that he give cooking a try, even though Ibrahim also harboured dreams of become a pilot. Lucky for us, Ibrahim chose the tastier route and enrolled at a culinary school in Paris where he studied by day and cooked by night. The kitchen that he worked in created all their dishes from scratch, so Ibrahim became an expert in no time.

A few years after finishing culinary school, Ibrahim accepted an offer to cook in London. He spent the next few years working in multiple different restaurants in Covent Garden and St. James, serving up delicious plates of sautéed greens and his famous jerk chicken. After moving from the restaurant industry to the catering industry, Ibrahim discovered Unlocking Potential. According to Ibrahim, “When I saw what Unlocking Potential was doing, I thought that it was an amazing thing. Why not try to be a part of something amazing as well?”

Along with sustaining the hungry young people and staff at Unlocking Potential headquarters, Ibrahim also works with the beneficiaries on some of our programs. Most recently, he helped with our partnership project at Sufra in Brent. Ibrahim taught a group of students’ basic kitchen skills and helped them prepare a three-course dinner to be served in the community. The trainees cooked a beautiful dinner which included goat cheese salad, roasted salmon, and lemon tart. Yum!

We are grateful for the continuing support and colourful flavours coming from Ibrahim’s kitchen.