Furqan Meerza

Hi Melissa and Stephen,

I’ve been listening to The Food For ThoughtCast and really appreciate how you mix real culinary insight with personality and storytelling. It feels like a conversation you’d have after service rather than a lecture, which I love.

I’m a chef by background, having worked in kitchens like Mugaritz and Noma, and I now work in culinary R&D and food innovation. Over the last few years, I’ve also started a project called Fugitive Chefs, where I explore what happens when chefs leave restaurant kitchens but stay in food. If you wish to know more about me, you will find it here on my website : https://fugitivechefs.com/#about-me

I’d love to come on the show to talk about:
• Why so many chefs are rethinking the traditional kitchen path
• What culinary skills look like outside restaurants
• What surprised me most moving from fine dining into R&D
• And whether the definition of “chef” needs to expand

I think your audience would connect with the human side of that transition, especially anyone curious about where culinary careers can actually go.

If it feels like a fit, I’d love to set something up.

Best,
Furqan