Toronto chef leaving fine dining scene to start casual kebab and chicken restaurant
Necessity breeds innovation, as they say, and, pretty soon, Soudi began singing a different tune.
It also helped that, where opening Sima posed what seemed like endless challenges, Mozy’s, Soudi told Dished Toronto, all fell into his lap.
Greg Bourolias, of Burger Drops fame, is a close friend of Soudi’s, and Soudi told Dished Toronto that the two would regularly joke about Soudi opening his own place next door should then-tenant Liberty Shawarma drop out.
“Then, he messaged me, literally on Christmas Day, saying ‘Merry Christmas, bro, the tenant wants out,'” and just like that, Mozy’s was a-go.
While a quick-service charcoal grill shop is, by all accounts, a divergence from the majority of Soudi’s culinary experience, he views the new venture as an opportunity to flex his creativity nonetheless.
Expect succulent, juicy kebabs and, the real star of the show, charcoal-grilled chicken, not served in a way that pays exact homage to any specific regional cuisine, but to Soudi’s own masterful ideas.
“This whole concept, for me, is focused first on being delicious, but second on I choose creativity over authenticity,” Soudi told Dished Toronto.
“I’m not trying to be overly reflective of any one particular culture, so that gives me more flexibility and freedom to create a unique product where I can say, you know, ‘this is a skewer inspired by here. This is a skewer inspired by here. And this chicken is a hybrid between a Peruvian process of rotisserie chicken, a Lebanese process, and Portuguese.'”
While the restaurant is a canvas for Soudi’s culinary creativity, it will still pay ample homage to its namesake, Soudi’s father, Mozy.
“I have certain memories of my dad around kebab, you know, and on a personal level, those are going to live with me forever, and those are things that I like to reflect on and laugh,” Soudi says.
Mozy, Soudi told Dished Toronto, was a self-declared kebab expert, keeping an ever-changing ranking of local kebab shops in his mind that changed visit by visit.
“We would go to Iranian kebab spots, and we would order our chicken or beef kebabs. And he would tell them, like, ‘Please don’t cook it too much. Don’t overcook it,’Ā you know. And they’re like, ‘Yeah, no worries, no worries.’ But then he would be literally standing over the counter, staring at the guy cooking it, and constantly telling him, ‘No, no, that’s enough, that’s enough. Don’t overcook it. Don’t overcook it,'” Soudi told Dished Toronto.
“I would be so embarrassed that I would just immediately wait outside until he came to the car.”
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Even the shop’s black and orange branding pays homage to Mozy. Soudi tells Dished Toronto that Mozy was scarcely, if ever, seen wearing anything on his feet other than his ubiquitous black Reebok shoes; no matter if he was heading into work or to a wedding.
“He was an amazing dad to me,” Soudi tells Dished Toronto.
“He very personable. To all of our friends, all my brother’s friends, he was the cool dad. I think it’s really his spirit that’s going to be in the place, trying to try to embody that in our hospitality.”
Soudi is still deep in the process of renovating Mozy’s eventual home in Liberty Village, so the restaurant isn’t due to open for a few months yet, but he told Dished Toronto, he hopes the restaurant will open its doors before the end of the year.
If you ask us, Mozy’s can’t come soon enough.
Mozy’s Charcoal
Address:Ā 114 Atlantic Ave.
Opening:Ā Late 2025
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