Using the Cheese Tax to Feed those in Need: Partnering with Mama Khan Pakistani Peshwari Restaurant

On a snowy fall day in 2024, some friends and I were out and about in the Plateau of Montreal, when I spotted a Pakistani restaurant on St. Denis, Mama Khan. I’d been wanting to go to an authentic Pakistani resto for ages. So my cuisine-curious friends and I popped in, not knowing anything about it. Suffice to say, since I'm writing this blog, I'm pretty glad we did!

We had no idea when we stepped inside and were greeted effusively by the host/server, what an incredible establishment we had chosen for our meal that night. As we were patiently given insight into the depth and breadth of the Peshwari offerings on the menu, and how the owner was inspired by his mother (the "mama" in "Mama Khan"), we were also told about the restaurant’s social commitments.

Owner Abdul Raziq Khan has been running a free meal program from the restaurant ever since it first opened in 2022. What started as a take-out ghost kitchen, is now a complete restaurant that has allowed him to turn a life-long commitment to helping vulnerable and underserved communities into a reality. 

Since that night, Mama Khan has become my go-to recommendation for friends visiting the city, driven by both the incredible food and their commitment to social justice. And not one of those I've pointed to their cozy hideaway on the Plateau has been disappointed, on either front. The only thing we’ve been disappointed by, is that we didn’t learn about them sooner. 

It’s often hard when you're running a small business to feel like what you're doing matters. Because despite what our tagline says, no one actually needs a punny bandana. But people need food security and dignity. And especially living in a city like Montreal, in a country like Canada, the reality of food insecurity and the necessity of food banks is difficult to reconcile with having a goofy product-based business.

But Mama Khan is a template for the kind of business we try to be. One that’s creative, skilled, passionate, and, at its core, committed to bettering our shared humanity. And so, I want to continue being inspired by Khan’s work and incorporating as much of their ethos into our goods as we can. By bringing people a smile with our products, while getting to provide something powerful to people who are struggling.

When he’s not distributing meals through the voucher program and cooking for customers, you’ll also find Khan at the ready to help during power outages, disasters and deep freezes, running clothing drives, supporting fellow socially conscious businesses, fundraising for other important causes, like assisting victims of genocide in Gaza, and working to open a Halal soup kitchen in Montreal!

You can donate directly to Mama Khan food distribution program here, or head down to the Plateau for a meal yourself and purchase a meal voucher to give to someone in need to come down to the restaurant where they’ll be treated like second family. Alternatively, you can leave the voucher with them, to pay for a meal that will be distributed during one of their regular free meal campaigns, held in locations around the city.

And if you’d like to support us at the same time, check out our Cheese Tax Collector collaboration bandana! Inspired by the Puppy Songs bop, $5 from each bandana will buy a meal from Mama Khan’s food distribution program.

To read more about Abdul Raziq Khan and the amazing things he’s doing to help our communities grow stronger, check out this article from La Converse.