Nahid Ahmed

The Climb

At ICI International Culinary School in Switzerland, Nahid Ahmed picked up the formal base that would carry through every subsequent kitchen: discipline, repetition, and the habit of working to exacting standards. The early line of his resume runs through rooms that are known for pressure and precision, beginning with intern at Lespinasse in New York City and continuing through cook at Restaurant de L'Hôtel de Ville in Crissier, Switzerland, cook at Lespinasse in New York City, cook at The French Laundry in Napa Valley, cook at Restaurant de L'Hôtel de Ville in Crissier, Switzerland, cook at El Bulli in Spain, cook at The Fat Duck in England, cook at Café Gray in New York City, and cook at Plaza Hotel, Oak Room reopening in New York City. What that sequence shows is range without drift. Switzerland, New York City, Napa Valley, Spain, and England each added a different tempo, but the through-line stayed the same: kitchens with strong expectations, where technical fluency has to hold under pressure. In Nahid Ahmed’s case, the record points to stamina as much as range, and to the kind of repetition that sharpens craft across different systems and standards. From 2011, Nahid Ahmed became co-opener and operator at Respite in Midtown, New York City, taking on responsibility beyond the line. Since 2019, he has been founder and Executive Chef of Luthun, where the earlier years of service and repetition now sit inside a role with authorship.

Today

At Luthun (since 2019), the work is the accumulation of all the kitchens that came before it. As founder and Executive Chef, Nahid Ahmed brings a long apprenticeship into a single address, with the sort of control that comes from moving through demanding rooms and holding standards over time. The shift from intern and cook to founder and Executive Chef marks not a break in the work, but its consolidation.

Signature

Nahid's signature dishes include fushka.

In Their Words “I had an internship with Chef Gray Kunz, who became one of my mentors.” “I worked for another mentor of mine, Swiss Chef Philippe Rochat.”