How Nahid's Story Began
When Nahid Hassan first moved to Sweden in 1995 to study fashion design at Beckmans in Stockholm, he began working part-time in various Indian restaurants. He noticed that most of the owners and employees of these Indian restaurants were Bangladeshis. However, he seldom enjoyed any authentic Bangladeshi food, as food stores with authentic spices and products from his home country were scarce in Sweden. This inspired him to take matters into his own hands.
Shanti Classic
Entrepreneur Nahid Hassan is a food enthusiast who sees opportunities rather than challenges. In 2000, Nahid and his brother Naim Uddin started their first restaurant, Shanti Classic, in Stockholm. Shanti Classic proved successful, leading them to open their second eatery, Shanti Soft Corner, in 2008.
Soft Corner
Nahid Hassan and his brother Naim Uddin opened their second eatery, Shanti Soft Corner, in 2008.
He learned over these years that despite people of Bengali descent owning more than 90% of Sweden's Indian restaurants, most Stockholmers had never tried Bengali food. Nahid desperately wanted to change that.
Touch of Bengal
In 2013, he opened Touch of Bengal, the first Bengali restaurant in Europe, pushing himself outside his comfort zone. The food was prepared using authentic Bengali home cooking techniques, and dishes, like begun vadji dall, fish pulao, and sorshe telapia, have since won the hearts of Swedes.
Gossip Nytorget
In 2014, he opened Gossip, his fourth eatery, focusing on Bengali street food in a cool and urban restaurant environment. The restaurant offers dishes like khichury with lamb bhuna, singara, chotpoti, and fuska. Gossip quickly became popular among locals in posh Södermalm, a celebrity hot spot. Since then, two more Gossip restaurants have opened in Stockholm, maintaining the concept of serving genuine, rustic Bengali street food.
The Ambassador
Nahid considers himself an ambassador of Bengali food culture.
He has served as a spokesperson for Bengali entrepreneurship and food culture in Sweden on several occasions, including visits to the Swedish embassy in Dhaka.
Additionally, he frequently appears on Bengali cooking programs like Amader Ranna Ghor and Jamuna TV. He has also been featured on the cover pages of Curry Life Magazine and the Swedish Daily News.
Vegancurry
In 2018, Nahid released his first cookbook, Vegocurry, containing exclusively vegetarian Bengali recipes and reflecting his passion for sustainability in the food sector.
This passion also shines through his dedicated project of producing and selling Bengali spices, food products, and takeaway dishes to ecological food stores in Stockholm.
Along with winning the Swedish restaurant award Gulddraken twice, Nahid's restaurants also took home the 2013 and 2014 Asian Curry Awards for best Bengali restaurant in Europe.
For his tireless efforts with one of his Gossip restaurants, Nahid won the title of "Best European Curry Chef of the Year" at the Curry Life Chef Awards in London in October 2016 and 2017.
This prestigious award helped put Sweden on the culinary curry map of Europe. For his restaurant, Soft Corner, Nahid was awarded the honorable Gasell prize in December 2017, given annually to a Swedish entrepreneur who has established one of the nation's fastest-growing companies.
Perhaps the numerous international accolades Shanti has received over the years have drawn many Swedish and foreign celebrities.
Notable visitors to Shanti include former prime minister Magdalena Andersson, Indian Master Chef winner Saransh Goila, the Bangladeshi and Indian ambassadors, Nobel Prize winner Kailash Satyarthi, Bollywood director Shonali Bose, Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah, and the prince of Sweden, Carl Philip.
Nahid also received an invitation to have dinner at the residence of the Indian ambassador in Sweden.
Now,
many years later
Nahid runs seven restaurants with his brother and is an esteemed cookbook author, TV chef in Bangladesh, cooking tutor, and producer of ecological Bengali food products and takeaway dishes.
Recently, the Swedish ambassador in Dhaka wrote a book about him, marking 50 years of celebration between Bangladesh and Sweden.
Nahid continues to promote Bangladeshi culture and food in Sweden, creating a name and raising the flag of Bangladeshi cuisine in the European world.
