Moustafa Elrefaey is the executive chef and cofounder of Zööba, a fast-casual chain brings Egyptian street food to the world. Founded in 2012, Zööba has eight restaurants around Egypt as well as Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and New York.

It was named to MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2022. In 2023, Zööba was ranked the best restaurant in Egypt and ninth in the MENA region on the MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants list, while Elrefaey received the MENA’s 50 Best Chef’s Choice Award.

CULINARY PHILOSOPHY

Growing up, he spent a lot of time in his grandmother’s village, surrounded by plentiful fields and abundant produce. He developed a close relationship with the land while helping his grandmother cook, using only fresh, seasonal ingredients. As a chef, he was eager to continue the culinary journey he started as a child and reaffirm his identity through his cuisine.

His culinary philosophy and passion reflect the growing trend towards a healthier and more natural lifestyle. He works with neighboring farmers to source the finest regional and local organic produce. Chef Elrefaey creates cuisine that pleases the senses and allows the natural flavors of the food to shine through.

Inspired by the difficulty of his early culinary career, Elrefaey decided that if he ever made it to the top, he would always keep his door open to anyone in need of advice or support. Fueled by a desire to help others, he started an initiative called “Info on the Go” (معلومة علي الماشي), where he toured Egyptian cities meeting with young chefs on the streets to provide them with knowledge and much-needed techniques.

PRESERVING EGYPTIAN FOOD

Elrefaey’s early memories in his grandmother’s kitchen, combined with his culinary skills and academic knowledge as a professor at Henry Ford College in Michigan, paved the way for him to introduce Egyptian flavors to the world, through these international positions:

• Egyptian Ambassador at the Culture & Heritage Committee of the World Association of Chefs Society
• Technical Chef of the EU Mediterranean Diet Project
• Egyptian Ambassador at the World Chefs Without Borders
• Winner of the Falafel Festival London, 2016

Elrefaey is a strong advocate for preserving Egyptian food heritage. He has worked on various projects to document the history of Egyptian cuisine, including being the first chef in the world to bring to life a 3,500-year-old recipe from the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. The recipe was published in El-Rawy magazine food history edition.

Sustainable Feeding Project

Moustafa is currently working on a sustainable feeding restaurant/project that will serve around 1,000 free meals a day, along with the food ordered by paying customers, to help feed older and disabled people or those with limited income.

Nakoll Culinary Training Program

With his academic knowledge and his eyes on the young people of Egypt and the MENA region, Elrefaey recently co-founded Nakoll, a new food startup that offers a solution to the high cost and lack of accessibility to professional culinary education. Nakoll provides an online culinary training program in Arabic that is affordable and flexible, enabling young people to access Elrefaey’s culinary knowledge with a click of a button.

Through Nakoll, Elrefaey has overseen the culinary skills acquisition training of more than 250 chefs, including migrants and refugees, with a 70% link to employment.

Meet the Culinary Jury Members of the ECA Live Cooking Competitions at HACE 2026