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Day in the Life: Muhammed “Kwik Meal” Rahman
Ever wondered what the white sauce is made from at your favorite chicken and rice cart? Or where the cart even comes from? Where do they prepare the food? And, of course- is it clean? Have you ever wondered what it was like to run a street cart? Here is a glimpse into the life of one person that knows the answers to all those questions…
Much has been written about Muhammed Rahman. Born in Bangladesh, this chef has become famous for being that street cart guy who used to work at the Russian Tea Room. Now he owns and operates Kwik Meal, a Lamb & Rice cart on 45th & 6th which opened in 2000. Since then Rahman has opened two more carts (one on 45th & 5th, and one on 47th & Park) both run by his brothers. Food costs are high, and profits are low- yet he would never go back to cooking at a restaurant, because he loves the interaction with the customers you only get running a food cart. This is a day in his life…
Photos & Timeline by Ryan Devlin
6:00am: Muhammed Rahman wakes up in Jackson Heights, Queens. Heads to garage (also in Jackson Heights) to pick up his cart.
6:28am: Arrives at the garage in Jackson Heights, and gets the cart stocked with goods. As is required by law, all the food, drinks and sauces must be prepared and stored in the garage, or other DOH approved facility. Nothing can be prepared at home. Rahman buys most of his supplies directly from wholesalers and has them delivered directly to the garage. The cart is stocked up with supplies for the day, including the meat which had been prepared the night before, and left to marinate overnight.
6:55am: The cart is hooked up to the truck, and they leave the garage with cart in tow.
7:25am: The truck arrives at corner of 45th and 6th, at which point the truck tows it into place before the workers straighten it out by hand. The whole process takes about five minutes. On this morning, the sidewalk had already been hosed down by the building’s maintenence man… but if they show up to a dirty sidewalk, Rahman will rinse it off himself while the truck waits with the cart.
7:30am: The cart is secured in its spot. A worker takes the truck to be parked in a Midtown garage, which costs hundreds of dollars a month. Everyone else goes to work setting the cart up. The glass windows are put into place, and the inside of the cart is prepared. First the pans and containers are arranged in their proper place. Then the sauces. After that, the propane tank is set up and the surfaces are given another wipe-down just before cooking starts. One guy sets up the beverages, putting ice in the cooler and water, sodas, etc. After that, the workers pull on their white chef smocks and white hats.
8:07am: Once the cart is prepped and everything is in place, they fire up the grill, oil it down, and the cooking begins. Chicken goes on the grill first, while another worker starts throwing falafel balls into the deep fryer. The cooking takes about three hours as they work through the chicken, lamb and beef. During this time they will also cut and prep the vegetables.
11:00am: Cart officially opens for business.
11:03am: Workers start grilling the pita bread, as the rice goes into the rice cooker.
11:20am: First customer of the day arrives. Orders lamb over rice. The house specialty.
11:30am: Rahman puts on his own chef uniform (hat, smock) as the workers start cooking the fish, which takes much less time than the meats.
11:40am: The first line starts to form.
11:45am: Workers set up a generator to power the cart lights and a small fan. The fan is a must on warm days, as it gets extremely hot inside the cart with the grill and all the other cooking surfaces giving off heat. The day we were there, the temperature was in the 90s, meaning a long, hot day for the staff inside the cart.
12:20pm: The lunch crowd starts to pick up. A lot of the customers are regulars, and Rahman clearly enjoys the personal interaction involved with running a food cart. The efficient assembly line kicks into gear as the line gets longer. Rahman takes the orders from the customers in line, sometimes more than 5 orders at a time. There are plastic containers filled with rice ready to go as the food is ordered. When the customers place an order, the meat goes on the grill with a little oil, for a final cook/warm up. They spoon the meat into the rice or over pita, give a squirt of hot sauce and white sauce and its ready to go.
12:30pm: Now there is a non-stop line, at times almost 20 people long. This is, according to Rahman, still a relatively slow day, because of the heat.
1:30pm: Its been very busy. The line is still about 10 people deep.
1:45pm: They are running out of plastic containers. One of the workers climbs up to the top of cart to grab more. Because the cart is so small, the space must be used very efficiently.
2:00pm: At this point, food was being cooked and served non stop for over an hour and a half. As the line begins to slow up, Rahman and his workers continue to prepare meat and cook falafel during the breaks.
2:15pm: Starts to pick up yet again. Another relatively constant line forms for the next 45 minutes.
3:00pm: Finally, the lunch rush is over. Now, the guys have about 3 hours to organize stuff, clean the cart, and start cooking more meat for the dinner rush.
3:30pm: Because it is Friday, Muhammed must leave to stock up supplies for the next week. He goes to pick up the truck from the garage, and heads to Costco to pick up most of the bulk dry goods and some of the food and ingredients. While he is gone, his workers man the cart.
6:00pm: Dinner rush starts, mostly office workers headed home and wanting to grab a quick bite to eat.
7:45pm: Muhammed arrives back at the cart. After shopping, he drove the supplies back to the garage in Jackson Heights for storage before heading back into Midtown.
8:00pm: Most of the dinner crowd is over, so the workers start packing up, and cleaning the cart. While this goes on, the grill remains on, in case someone walks up for a last minute order.
8:40pm: They are still busy wiping down cart. The glass panels get taken out and wiped down.
8:42pm: The last customer of the day walks up and buys a bottle of water.
8:57pm: Generator is turned off, lights go off in cart, and the grill is turned off.
8:59pm: Cart is closed up.
9:05pm: Muhammed and workers hook the cart up to the truck.
9:10pm: Drive off, headed for the garage in Jackson Heights
9:45pm: The workers arrive back at garage. The cart is washed down again. Since it’s Friday, they are done once the cart is washed… but the rest of the week, this is the time the prep work is done for the following day. This is when the famous white sauce is made, from sour cream, cottage cheese, yogurt and a mix of herbs and spices. They also prepare the marinade for the meat, which is made from garlic, cumin, coriander, onions and other spices. The ”secret” to what makes the lamb so tender: papaya puree.
10:45pm: Over 16 hours after starting work, everyone leaves the garage and heads home.
Rahman does this routine five days a week, 52 weeks a year. He has had one vacation in the last six years.
Support for this piece, generously provided by The Street Vendor Project. Special thanks to Ryan Devlin for putting together the timeline and taking all the photographs.
Posted: August 23rd, 2007 under 45th and 6th, Cart, Day in the Life, Falafel, Kwik Meal, Middle Eastern, Street Meat.
Comments: 40
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Comments
Comment from Inane
Time: August 23, 2007, 8:55 am
Hmm.. no pictures of the Jackson Heights garage? Mind you, I eat cart food at least once a week…every week.
I havent died yet, in fact I feel jusfkajl;dsa.d…
Comment from streetmeat4eva
Time: August 23, 2007, 9:53 am
great story! i love hearing about street vendors & will continue to support them (so long as my stomach agrees with me, anyway).
Comment from Conrad Logic
Time: August 23, 2007, 10:00 am
God bless this man and his lamb marinade!
Comment from ESNY
Time: August 23, 2007, 10:05 am
Not only his lamb marinade, but also his florescent green hot sauce. Ask for your lamb on rice extra spicy and specify that hot sauce sauce and you’ll be in street meat heaven.
Comment from Rudy McBagel
Time: August 23, 2007, 10:06 am
No pork chops?
Comment from Joanna
Time: August 23, 2007, 10:36 am
Mmmm mmm, what a fantastic post! I think I know what I’m having for lunch today. You should follow him on his journey to Costco next time.
Comment from 50th&6th
Time: August 23, 2007, 10:55 am
great post! i have a new admiration for cart food and the people who man it. this has inspired me to try it out. just this one cart, tho :)
Comment from chathamsq
Time: August 23, 2007, 11:09 am
This was like having a backstage pass to my lunch. This was a brilliant post & I really enjoyed it. Here’s an idea for another series: “Failed Street Carts - Where Are They Now?” I’m looking at you, Happy Teriyaki BBQ.
Comment from fedthefish
Time: August 23, 2007, 11:19 am
anyone see the gourmet mag article about the taco trucks in the city? i know the trucks aren’t in midtown but has anyone tried any of them?
Comment from Nate
Time: August 23, 2007, 11:29 am
Excellent post, Zach!
Comment from Yvo
Time: August 23, 2007, 11:38 am
This is awesome.
Comment from DDR
Time: August 23, 2007, 11:39 am
fedthefish - I have “dined” @ the taco truck on 96th b/w Broadway & West End (profiled by Peter Meehan in the NY Times) and it’s pretty good. However, their horchata is bland and has no rice or really anything else to it.
god bless Muhammed Rahman and god bless America!
Comment from fishermb
Time: August 23, 2007, 11:54 am
great post indeed, think i just may give the kwik meal a shot for lunch today
Comment from Meesy
Time: August 23, 2007, 11:56 am
loved getting the behind the scenes tour. it all looks so simple when you’re standing in line, but what a lot of effort to bring cheap, tasty food to the street. great post.
Comment from SSH
Time: August 23, 2007, 12:19 pm
I have a whole new respect for the Kwik Meal guys! Great feature. They’ve refused to put their green hot sauce on my pregnant friend’s order…I wonder what that means???
Comment from trucks for me
Time: August 23, 2007, 12:23 pm
that was brilliant!
Comment from Nancy
Time: August 23, 2007, 12:28 pm
This “Day in the Life” post was in ML’s destiny! I hope you’ll do more of them, Zach!
Comment from Ubu Walker
Time: August 23, 2007, 12:39 pm
Ordered Lamb over rice, w/o rice today, substituted a pita, extra hot. I was annoyed b/c I got charged .50 cents more for the “Lamb Salad” and then another $1 for the pita. I was also annoyed because he added olive oil and dressing onto the salad without asking if I wanted it. Grrr.
On the plus side, it was tasty.
Comment from Doug Cress
Time: August 23, 2007, 12:47 pm
Love the post Zach.
Comment from Crackhead
Time: August 23, 2007, 12:53 pm
Comment from ESNY
Time: August 23, 2007, 10:05 am
Not only his lamb marinade, but also his florescent green hot sauce. Ask for your lamb on rice extra spicy and specify that hot sauce sauce and you’ll be in street meat heaven.
——————-
Wow. I love that sauce too, but only once have I asked for something extra hot. I have a real tolerance for piquante. The resulting lamb on rice was so hot that I couldn’t finish it. I was in pain.
Maybe the key is “could you make it a LITTLE BIT extra spicy, please?”
Comment from fedthefish
Time: August 23, 2007, 1:13 pm
DDR - thanks. I’m going to have to give that a try.
Comment from fishermb
Time: August 23, 2007, 1:25 pm
eating chicken over rice now, truly tasty, havent dug into my falafel pita yet. very happy with this much food for under $10, usually i’m looking at $12-15 a day, this will definitely be a weekly staple in my rotation. incredible efficiency, they took 12 people’s orders at once, 5 people in the cart, couldnt have waited more than 3 or 4 minutes for our food before they went onto the next batch of ~10 people.
Comment from ESNY
Time: August 23, 2007, 2:09 pm
Crackhead - I know that green hot sauce can strip the paint off a wall, but damn is it good… bowels beware!!!
Comment from Rudy McBagel
Time: August 23, 2007, 3:04 pm
Zach, maybe you could use the same timeline idea on a McDonalds Manager.You get the idea:-
7am: wake up in dumpster
7.30 picks the burger meat up from the dog pound
7.35 Squeaze special sauce from zit on chin….
LOL you get the idea…………….lololol
(You dont wanna know where the pickels come from)
Comment from SMDNY
Time: August 23, 2007, 5:33 pm
Zack I really enjoyed this one! I walk by the cart all the time. Can anyone tell me/estimate whether there is a lot of garlic in the food or sauce?
(Before ye haters come after me, I’m actually allergic - why God why?! why couldn’t I be allergic to lima beans instead? Or something really rare like mangosteens?)
Comment from AT
Time: August 23, 2007, 8:31 pm
in reference to SSH’s comment, spicy food can induce labor.
Comment from r74
Time: August 23, 2007, 10:44 pm
great blog! I really enjoyed this one.
Comment from Alan the Beef Eater
Time: August 23, 2007, 11:26 pm
Sounds good, think I might take a walk next week to the one on 47th and Park
Comment from Crackhead
Time: August 24, 2007, 11:42 am
Also, just an FYI — the cart at 45th and 5th is cheaper than the one at 45th and 6th. Strange but true.
Comment from Vishal
Time: August 24, 2007, 3:24 pm
Any variance in the food between the one on 5th and the one on 6th?
Comment from Alan the Beef Eater
Time: August 24, 2007, 6:33 pm
I went over to the cart on 47th and Park(6block walk for me) to get some lamb over rice. I did not bother when I saw that it cost $6.75 was lamb over rice.
Comment from i just work here
Time: August 29, 2007, 12:58 pm
went to kwik meal (47th & park) for the first time yesterday, got the lamb/chicken combo, which was divine. the chicken, in particular, is a street food standout– there’s a nuttiness to the seasoning that’s very sophisticated. problem though– went back today for some more, and the kart wasn’t there! anyone know if there’s a schedule to their appearances? or if today was a one-off event?
Comment from quarterempty
Time: August 30, 2007, 2:53 pm
i tried to go today and the cart was there (on the SW corner). But one of the cooks had grabbed a guy on a bike (a messenger?) and had accused him of stealing something. the guy kept saying, “i didn’t take anything of yours.” and then a couple of plainclothes came up. understandably, the line got a little backed up at this point, though the other guy in the cart just kept prepping. i took off, figuring this probably wasn’t the best time to get a quality meal from the kwik cart, and there was a huge van on the other corner that said it was the steak truck. it appeared to be a diner on wheels, but it was more than i wanted to pay so i had really greasy, bottom-of-the-vat indian at the cart right next “door”.
Comment from Ld
Time: August 30, 2007, 3:37 pm
STEAK TRUCK??
Hold your horses… photos and info coming tomorrow morning! :-) -zach
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Comment from toshi
Time: October 16, 2007, 1:39 pm
i love his food!
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Time: January 2, 2008, 5:50 pm
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Comment from vdubjb
Time: January 31, 2008, 12:23 pm
Not one mention of a bathroom break, lol. Still an epic effort.
Comment from ldnunez
Time: May 9, 2008, 12:21 pm
The falafel is AMAZING! Very fresh and you can tell they are clean and take pride in their cart. They have many fans!
Comment from Park
Time: July 16, 2008, 12:27 pm
Wow… the falafel is just… wow…
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