We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nuri (Chef Stretch) Muhammad. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nuri (Chef Stretch) below.

Nuri (Chef Stretch), thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

Being able to express myself through food was the inspiration for the Chef Stretch Kitchen, LLC. As long as I can remember, I have always had a desire to cook. The business is a natural progression of that passion. After working in several chain restaurants, I felt like I wanted to work for myself and have flexibility in my schedule, as well as autonomy to elevate dishes. There is a saying by Dhirubhai Ambani that states, “If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to help them build theirs.”

Throughout the years, I developed a name for myself, and friends and family knew I cooked well. In high school, the was a cooking team and they put out a post that they were looking for this tall guy to be on their team. My younger sister read the post, and said to herself, they are looking for my brother. I joined the team, and it was the first time in the history of Bowie High School that they won the cooking competition for the state of Maryland to compete at Pro Start Nationals. This win also earned me a scholarship to a culinary arts school to further refine my skills.

There came a time where I decided to make 20 plates and post to my social media. I indicated the date, time and location I would be. To my surprise, within less than an hour, I was sold out. I continued to do this and build my name and following. Hence, Chef Stretch Kitchen, LLC was born.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Chef Stretch Kitchen, LLC provides phenomenal service for our clients. If you want amazing service and professionalism, then look no further than booking with Chef Stretch. Our services include a dine-in experience of brunch or dinner in the comfort of client’s homes. We also cater for special events and celebrations. Whether that’s for a couple’s Valentine dinner with ambiance, or a baby shower, graduation, or birthday party with all the bells and whistles. We also travel to other states to provide our culinary services. We can serve any company, office, private business or individual, including several celebrities.

Outside of really good food I prepare, great decor I provide, and my 6’6″ height, I am quite personable. This allowed me to compete as a contestant on Season 2 of Gordon Ramsey’s Next Level Chef which premiered on February 12, 2023 after the Super Bowl and had 15.5 million viewers. The show aired every Thursday night at 8pm on Fox for 14 weeks and Season 2 can also be viewed on Hulu in its entirety. I had some great highs and lows during the competition and use my cooking talents to win the first ever immunity pin, time token, and two best dishes. I also performed well during several eliminations cookoff challenges.

My personal mission is to show others that following your passion can lead you to your purpose and to success. Being a role model for the community and inspiring younger generations that help change the narrative of young African American men is a part of my purpose. I have had the opportunity to speak to young students at several elementary and high schools to help motivate and encourage them and make giving back a regular part of my priorities.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The time is now in my career to pivot. The show recently ended and I need to branch out into developing a cookbook, seasonings, and sauces. In addition to continuing booking catering gigs. Beyond this, there is a possibility of opening a small restaurant location and a food truck. Obviously, this all requires capital. Identifying financing opportunities and partnerships will be key to my ability to expand. I also would like to continue to collaborate with other great chefs, improve my skills, and possibility look to be on another cooking show.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

To build my social media audience, I continuously post images of my dishes and how I prepare them. I post Chef Stretch events, open up Live Q&A sessions, where people can ask me questions about the show, or recipes, etc. Having an interesting social media presence is important and the show certainly helped to increase my following.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: ChefStretch
• Other: Tik Tok @ChefStretch1.

Image Credits
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