Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

A Rohingya Muslim immigrant dreamed of opening a restaurant. Now she owns Asian Homecook in West Ridge

wbez.org · 13dShare

Toyuba Amir Ali would prepare large meals for family and friends in her West Ridge home, with dishes like mee goreng mamak ayam, a stir-fried noodle dish tossed in a sweet and spicy sambal chile-based sauce and protein and nasi goreng kampung , a salty and spicy dish made of day-old rice, anchovies, shrimp paste and topped with a fried egg. She worked as a cook at a restaurant in Malaysia and at one point owned a food stall with a friend. When the Rohingya Muslim immigrant came to the U.S. in September 2024, she began dreaming of opening her own eatery. But her daughter Aishah Hamid and her siblings weren’t crazy about the idea. However, when it became clear that Amir Ali wasn’t going to let the dream go, Hamid and various family members mobilized to support the matriarch’s vision. “She came up with the idea to open a restaurant and kept saying, ‘maybe we should try,’” said Hamid, 35. “But we weren’t familiar with opening or running a restaurant. However, she kept saying ‘the restauran

First report: A Rohingya Muslim immigrant dreamed of opening a restaurant. Now she owns Asian Homecook in West Ridge — suntimes.com, 13d