Aref Elgaali and Z Zoul Cafe
By Maddie Scher
Aref Elgaali is the chef and owner of Z Zoul Cafe and keeper of his grandmother’s venerated recipes. Z Zoul Cafe provides meals for the Congregate Housing Sites program, one of three community-feeding programs operated by SF New Deal. Funded by the City of San Francisco, this program delivers three meals per day for people in hotels or congregate sites who were previously unhoused or placed in quarantine. “Out there, there are thousands of families. They need our help, and we should be there for them,” says Elgaali. His work as a chef, community member, and organizer proves that alleviating the impact of COVID-19 and the longer term issues impacting the communities of San Francisco is complex, and cannot be resolved without centering community members and local businesses.
Elgaali generously shared his time and perspective. The following conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
What led you to move to California and open Z Zoul Cafe?
I chose California because this is a very welcoming state to immigrants. People here greeted us with open arms. We quickly made many friends and I decided to start a restaurant. I named it “Zoul” which means “friend” in the Sudanese language.
The reason I decided to open a restaurant was that I love to cook. Most of the recipes we serve at Z Zoul I learned from my grandmother. She began cooking for the family at 15 years old and lived to 96. Thus, she was a cook for 81 years, so she had time to perfect authentic Sudanese food with amazing taste.
What is the most popular dish on your menu and what is one dish you recommend?
My favorite dish and the favorite dish of all Sudanese people will always be lamb. The Sudan is a natural place to raise lambs and most Sudanese families own lambs. For this reason, The Sudan has so many wonderful ways to prepare lamb dishes. We make a lamb shank that is first boiled, then marinated with natural Sudanese herbs and then baked in the oven to give the outside a crispiness while leaving the meat inside soft and tender. You don’t need a knife to eat our lamb shank. A fork will help the meat fall into your plate.
How has COVID-19 affected your business?
When the COVID-19 happened, my business came to a standstill for both walk-in traffic and catering. It was a very scary time. But, we looked around and saw what was happening in our community and across the country and my family was very sad for America. We knew we had to do something to help. In the initial days, there were stories of doctors and nurses working double shifts, going without sleep and without food. A group of friends of Z Zoul raised $15,000 and we provided meals free to charge to hospital emergency room personnel through Front Line Foods and World Central Kitchen. With SF New Deal [we are] serving food to the homeless, the elderly and those with serious illnesses, like diabetes, who couldn’t leave their homes. We feel very privileged to help.
Z Zoul Cafe is located at 295 Eddy Street in the Tenderloin of San Francisco. As the President of the Tenderloin Merchants Association, our short-term goal is to help our neighbors and businesses survive the Covid-19 Pandemic. The longer term goal of The Tenderloin Merchants Association is to achieve increasing improvement in our district in terms of cleanliness, safety and helping our less fortunate neighbors eat well, sleep well and pursue productive lives. We are blessed to have many, many fine people in the City government and associated social service agencies who work tirelessly to help us. I believe that we shall succeed by working together.
What inspired you to work with SF New Deal?
They understood that people not only needed to be fed, but that small business owners, like myself, needed to survive the Pandemic if we were going to be able to support our families. Without the SF New Deal, so many small restaurants would have gone out of business forever. We were fortunate to work with SF New Deal.
Would you continue to cook for neighbors in need after COVID-19?
We were proud to be accepted in America with open arms. During the COVID-19 crisis, we have been inspired by the citizens of San Francisco. We see our neighbors in the Tenderloin who have risen up to help their community. We plan to continue to support our friends and neighbors, in part to help those less fortunate but, more importantly, to pay back to this country for the opportunity to live here in freedom.
What would you like San Franciscans to know about you?
That I am very, very happy because, in July of this year, my family was granted legal Asylum in the United States. We applied initially in 2016, and we followed all the legal requirements and filled out endless paper forms. We waited over three years for final approval. We are now overjoyed to be accepted in this great country. My family and I are so grateful to be given the opportunity to live here. We now want to give back to the community for the gift that we have received.
You can support Z Zoul Cafe and place an order here: https://mymozo.com/myrestaurant/Default
Elgaali himself might just pick up the phone.