A Day in the Life of COVID-19 Heroes: Kinza & Zain from Mecca Chef

Names: Kinza Saqib and Zain Pirzada

Occupation: Co-founders of Mecca Chef

Location: Brooklyn and Long Island

Tell us about yourselves:

Zain: My wife and I are both avid gym-goers and parents of our only child (who we sometimes get mixed up with the Looney Toons Tasmanian Devil)! Given our South Asian heritage, cooking is an absolute lifestyle, often giving birth to generations of foodies that thrive on spectacular combinations of spicy dishes. It is compulsory to always set the standard of what savory and buttery is for every get-together. We founded Mecca Chef when I had trouble balancing a proper diet and gym routine with a 16-hour day of work, business-school and the birth of my son! Having barely enough time to have a somewhat enjoyable workout, eating correctly proved to be an even tougher task. For us, as a couple, we knew the time cooking our meals could be time in growing our new family.

Kinza: I am Mecca Chef’s co-founder and head sous chef. My role fluctuates from kitchen management to online management. The hustle never stops. Cooking has always been an intrinsic part of my life. Growing up with a mother and grandmother, who are the archetype chefs in the family, it was expected that I make the same Pakistani dishes of that caliber. All in all, this made me acquire a love for cooking and creating a sense of togetherness through my dishes. Therefore, when it came to create healthy and wholesome meals that were Halal, I figured it was an invaluable opportunity to be part of an organization that fed Muslims and non-Muslims alike whilst working alongside my husband. Ultimately, we want the nation to know that Halal can very well be a gourmet style, health-invigorated dish, not just cart food.

Describe a typical day at work.

Our typical day starts, well, days before actually! Forty-eight hours before we cook the food, we typically start gathering our materials from our suppliers with our “early bird-gets-the-worm” strategy. The earlier we order and prepare our select meats; we ultimately get a fresher and tastier product. We then ‘prep’ our inventory and organize our labels for shipping. On the day of, we don’t stop until the taste, plating and cleanliness is perfect. Adhering with utmost austerity in cleanliness and hygiene, we pack each customer’s order in our room-sized refrigerators at the right temperature. We then clean until the kitchen is spotless.

Healthy and hearty meals prepared by Mecca Chef for front liners who work long hours to care for COVID-19 patients.

Tell us about your COVID-19 relief effort to help front liners and essential workers.

Globally, this pandemic has changed the way we view interaction with others and the way businesses will ultimately function. Healthcare in the United States  is part and parcel of the human rights and the pandemic has vastly affected aspects of those governmental policies, including those individuals who provide services under various healthcare institutions. Upon seeing article after article on the double shifts the essential workers were taking on, we needed to act promptly.  

Teaming up with our star athlete, Delaney Wallace, who has recently placed first at the Arnold A7 Pro Raw Challenge competition, we embarked on a mission to feed those workers by starting a GoFundMe. We’ve fed five hospitals and have many more on our dossier.  Our frontline workers haven’t stopped working to care for those who were succumbing to the virus and so we thought we shouldn’t stop either.

How do you ensure that you adhere to a high standard of food safety guidelines, especially during this pandemic?

Since the beginning of this company, we have always prioritized the use of surgical wear in preparing food to prevent any cross- contamination. Our state-of-the-art ventilated kitchens consistently keep a chill environment with no influence from outside forces. With monthly health inspections, our focus is to maintain a clean and efficient working environment. In response to COVID-19’s regulations, we equipped all our kitchen staff with N95, KN95, and OTC masks for daily and disposable wear. Although there is no evidence reported officially from the FDA about viral transmission via food, we’re not the ones to take any unnecessary risks.

What are some of your favorite feedback from front liners when they receive meals from Mecca Chef?

Our favorite reaction, by far, was the first hospital we delivered to in White Plains. Within the hour, apparently all the meals were devoured with smiling faces. At other hospitals, they greeted us with teams of workers, cheering and dancing upon seeing the meals. To know that these workers weren’t being fueled with either saturated fats, processed meats or bleached flour but with omega-3s, cage-free meats and whole grains, made us feel like superheroes as well!

We provide 100% antibiotic free, cage-free, steroid free meats and wild- caught/responsibly sourced seafood. We source our vegetables from local farmers’ markets to ensure we’re getting quality all the time and we make every sauce, every aspect of the dish in-house to ensure no preservatives, MSG or sulfates.

Though their faces cannot be seen, these doctors were all smiles when they received nutrient-rich halal meals from Mecca Chef.

What are the challenges you’ve faced during the COVID-19 pandemic?

While we believe no challenge can prevent the work we do, we are susceptible to injury just like many other small businesses. Mainly, our customer base had dropped by 70%, leaving us questioning whether we would be a sinker or a swimmer. Our solution to that problem? Three words: charity, charity, charity. By starting our GoFundMe, and contributing a certain percentage of our profits, we believe the best way to be a swimmer is to help others swim. We can recoup our profits, our hours can normalize, but losing a life is irreplaceable. We firmly believe that if we sacrifice for any cause, our provisions in time will ultimately double, in fact multiplied!

Misconceptions about COVID-19 during this crisis that you’d like to dispel.

From what we currently know, there is no evidence showing COVID-19 is food borne. While the food is safe, our workers are put in a vulnerable position when faced with quarantine mandates and customer deliveries. Another misconception we’d like to address is wiping down groceries and/or delivered boxes. Again, there’s no evidence showing COVID-19 transmission via food packaging, but regardless, we make sure our workers are washing hands and sanitizing before and after shipping.

What advice would you give to anyone out there who wants to help?

The best advice we can give is for them to jump with arms wide open… and help! In this economic and political climate, we need as many hands and minds as possible. No one person can make a difference with the flaws in the healthcare and food industries we’re seeing, but an enormous company can do wonders. Voices combined can echo messages no single messenger can do by themselves.