Business News
‘We want to put the Balti Triangle on the map and see Al Frash firmly at the centre of that’
Triangle is home to a Balti to boast about
---By Jon Griffin
Birmingham restaurant owner Mohammed Ahmed is aiming to cook up a storm in the UK culinary stakes – by putting the city’s Balti Triangle firmly on the map. Mohammed, who owns Al Frash in Ladypool Road,
says he wants to see the Balti Belt enjoy a Jewellery Quarter-style reputation to attract customers from further afield and boost the image of the area. The Al Frash proprietor, who recently joined the
Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, has seen the restaurant gain a string of glowing reviews from national newspapers since he launched back in 2001 – on the very day of the 11 September horror in New York. Today Mohammed proudly proclaims Al Frash as ‘Birmingham’s best Balti restaurant’ offering authentic North Indian, Pakistani and Kashmiri cuisine – but says the Balti Triangle in Sparkbrook still has an image problem with potential customers. “We want to put the Balti Triangle on the map and see
Al Frash firmly at the centre of that. It is fair to say that the area suffers from an image problem in some respects - some restaurants are not seen as professional. “We do not have a lads’ culture here, we are a family-
friendly environment. We want to tap into the market and make ourselves more visible through our membership of the Chamber – we want to secure more bookings from corporate clients and promote the area.”
Mohammed, who has also worked as an IT
professional, has seen Al Frash come a long way from its opening night of 11 September 2001. “The world had suddenly changed completely – it
was an awful night. I think we had two customers that day. I felt at the time ‘my God, that was a big mistake, we are in a predominantly Asian area and we are looking to attract predominantly English customers.’ It was quiet for the first couple of weeks but people saw the bigger picture. “A lot of our customers now come from a wider part
of Birmingham and the West Midlands. I want to tap into the people who are coming to Birmingham to visit – we want to be associated with the likes of the Jewellery Quarter and Brindleyplace. There are only a few restaurants in the area that truly serve authentic Baltis. We are saying we are in the the Balti Triangle, we are the best in the Balti Triangle – come and try us.” The Birmingham Balti Association’s official
application to the EU Protected Food Names scheme, enabling the dish to be given Traditional Speciality Guaranteed Status, joining the likes of Traditional Farmfresh Turkey and Gloucestershire Old Spots Pork, was recently rejected after a six-year campaign. Mohammed said dishes at Al Frash – Persian for
Butterfly - aimed to ‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a chilli’ in an ‘homage to one of my heroes, Muhammad Ali.’
June 2016 CHAMBERLINK7
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