PARIS, Dec 30 — On November 13, Al Qayyum Mafaudzil was taking the Paris metro — on his way to deliver a steaming packet of homemade nasi lemak to a customer — when the train stalled and did not budge for a few minutes.
There were repeated announcements in French, which he had yet to fully master having only been in France for a couple of months, but the noticeable change in the mood of his fellow commuters was obvious.
He later learned that several suicide bombers and gunmen had simultaneously attacked at six locations in Paris, one of which was just several blocks away from where he and his two friends, who are also his business partners, lived.
Al Qayyum, along with Mohd Afizuddin Ahmad Apandi and Fauzi Azami, run a modest nasi lemak delivery service in Paris and were doing fairly well in the two months they had been operational.
You wouldn’t be blamed at this point if you thought the boys’ nasi lemak business was sure to die in the expected anti-Muslim backlash that followed after the attacks as the Islamic State (IS) took credit for killing 130 and injuring 368.
However, their services were never more in demand than right after the deadliest attack on French soil since World War II pushed many to stay in and have food delivered.
“The next day, it was dead quiet. There were no people or cars on the streets,” Mohd Afizuddin, who is more popularly known as Affy, said in an interview with Malay Mail Online at Paris’ central business district earlier this month.
Nasi Lemak Paris (NLP) cancelled all orders the day after the November 13 attack and only serviced partial orders the following day. Still, an uptick in sales was the last thing they expected.
“Our business increased by 50 per cent after the attacks. I think because people were scared to go out and it’s also hard to get halal food here sometimes,” Affy said.
He added that the weeks following the Paris attacks, he had customers frequently asking him how conditions were in the city as they feared being marginalised or attacked.
“They would ask me, ‘I wear a headscarf, is it safe for me to go out?’ or ‘I’m coming with my baby, will it be safe?’” he recounted.
Paris has bounced back since, as evidenced by the exuberant and crowded conditions of the after-hours bistro where the interview was conducted.
Affy said that this was the first night the three Malaysians had taken a break in weeks.
The trio run Nasi Lemak Paris out of their tiny Parisian apartment and since the attacks, they’ve had to operate around the clock just to service the surge of orders they’ve been getting.
“We deliver from 10am to 10pm but we’re very flexible with our timing because some customers are catching trains or landing late at night so we don’t mind accommodating them.
“After the last delivery, I start making the sambal for the next day and let it cook overnight and then the next day I’m up at 6am to start cooking again. It’s 24 hours for us, for now at least,” he said.
The three best friends come from very different backgrounds but one day they decided to quit their jobs and put their personal savings on the line, all in search of an exciting new business venture abroad.
“When we first started, oh gosh, we tried selling at the Eiffel Tower and we had zero customers all day.
“We were devastated, we even tried giving it away but we had no takers, not even the homeless wanted it. Maybe because our packaging looked like leftovers,” Affy said, referring to the brown wax paper typically used when packing nasi lemak in Malaysia.
They then moved their business onto social media, vigorously publicising their business on Facebook as well as Instagram and one day, got their big break.
“I saw Keith Foo say on Instagram that he was in Paris and craving Malaysian food. So that very night, I sent him a message about our business,” Affy explained, referring to the Malaysian actor who has starred in various local TV dramas.
Foo subsequently posted a shot of himself enjoying his nasi lemak on photo-sharing site Instagram, with a rave review for a caption, and the rest, as they say, is history.
“We’ve had orders every night since then,” Affy said.
Three months in, NLP has now expanded its offerings to also include other popular Malaysian dishes like ayam masak lemak chilli api and nasi dagang pulut kuning, all of which Affy learned to cook on his own.
NLP also offers regional favourites like Singaporean chicken rice, Indonesian ayam percik and Bruneian nasi katok to satisfy the appetites of his many different customers.
“We also have locals buying our nasi lemak and surprisingly, they love it and sometimes ask for it to be spicier,” he said.
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NLP sells a basic packet of nasi lemak for €6 (RM28) but add-ons like prawn sambal and beef curry bring prices up to €9 a packet.
They do, however, have free delivery for orders within the 1st arrondissement which is the geographic centre of Paris and also where most of the popular tourist sites are located, seeing as tourists make up the core of their customer base.
“Our customers are mostly families who visit here, but we were also very busy during events like Paris Fashion Week as most designers from Kuala Lumpur like Joe Chia and John Liew… they ordered from us,” Affy said.
However, Paris is merely their first stop as the trio have plans to expand to other cities within Europe and even to cross the Atlantic, over to the United States.
“We hope to open our first flagship store here, at least with takeaway and delivery service, by the next Paris Fashion Week.
“After that, we will open a proper restaurant before we expand to either New York or Amsterdam,” he said.
