Rafiq Salim
Rolo’s | Queens
february 2023
With a Dutch mother and Indonesian father, Rafiq Salim was exposed to a global pantry at an early age. At seven years old, his family moved from the Netherlands to Coral Springs, FL, bringing plenty of recipes with them. In high school, Salim worked at a local Italian restaurant, and later worked concessions at college football games. He began a career in finance, but needed a change after a few years. He took an eight-month sabbatical traveling around South America, which reminded him of the community-building power of food. Returning to the States, he pursued cooking professionally, and enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.
During culinary school, Salim got the most out of his education by coupling it with real-life experience. He traveled down to New York City on weekends, working brunch shifts at Public under Rising Stars alum Brad Farmerie, and eventually moved to Yountville, CA to work at Bouchon under Rising Stars alum Philip Tessier. In 2011, Salim moved back to the East Coast to work at Gramercy Tavern with Rising Stars alum Michael Anthony. Spending six years there, he worked his way up from line cook to sous chef. In 2017, Salim and fellow Chef Howard Kalachnikoff pitched the idea for their own spot to Gramercy Tavern regular, Stephen Maharam, but with the pandemic throwing a wrench in their plans, it would take four years for their dreams to become a reality.
In January 2021, Kalachnikoff, Salim, and Maharam purchased a space in Ridgewood, Queens for their neighborhood dining destination, Rolo’s. There, Salim has built a team and an environment that celebrates the diversity and technicality of his experiences through the lens of a wood-fired oven. The menu at Rolo’s is approachable, focused, beautifully-executed, and most importantly, built for the Ridgewood community, with staples like their Calabrian chile polenta bread hitting almost every table at the start of the meal.
