Restaurant owner closer to home with new Indian restaurant in Elora

Shahed Rahman is more than familiar with restaurants and after years working in the industry he is opening up one he can call his own with his wife Sabrina who he met while working at a Fergus restaurant in the 2000s.

Now the couple is coming together to open their Indian restaurant,Taj Mahal, in Elora.

Shahed is from a small Bangladesh village called Ghatail where his mom still lives. When Shahed was growing up he learned how to cook from her and would make meals for his two younger brothers while his mom worked as a teacher and his dad was in the navy.

Sabrina grew up in Fergus and remembers when there were just Zellers and Zehrs. Once a week the treat would be to drive to Guelph to get McDonald's. She has seen Fergus and Elora grow along with its diversity in food options. 

She, her sister and friend were regulars at Fergus's Tandoori Grill. Shahed worked there for a couple of years and would give them appetizers on the house.

The couple lives in Fergus and have two children, Sahara and Sabir, who are excited for their family’s restaurant to open. Sabir has started practicing as a host and said he enjoys greeting people. The soft opening for Taj Mahal is being planned for Jan. 10.

Shahed has been eyeing the spot at 15 East Mill St. in Elora for seven years. It was a bubble tea spot and had a wall in the middle where a door led to a laundromat. It took about four months of renovations to turn it into what Shahed and Sabrina pictured. It has marble floors and table tops with a splash of colour in its mint green chairs.

He had people he knows from the restaurants he’s worked at come together to help in renovate. A plumber from Fergus, and electrician from Collingwood, and a contractor from Shelburne who came to his restaurant Coriander Kitchen in Orangeville.

Although he’s owned five restaurants none of them felt like his own since they were other people’s designs. It was his dream to open a restaurant with his ideas.

When Sabrina was seven months pregnant with her daughter, her mom would go to Orangeville to help Shahed with the restaurant. She died last year but Shahed knows she would be proud.

Shahed chose Elora for the restaurant in part because he wants to work closer to home. This way he can spend more time with his family and cheer on his children at their ringette games. 

He remembered when he had a restaurant in Collingwood and got stuck in Singhampton during a snowstorm. Luckily he got one of the last remaining hotel rooms but he didn’t want to go through that again.

He really likes the communities of Fergus and Elora. It’s not about doing business here, he wants the restaurant to be a spot for the community to come together.

"People have been calling him and leaving voicemails saying, can you let me know when you're open?" said Sabrina. She said other restaurants in the area have welcomed them.

The 28 seat Indian restaurant will feature dine-in, takeout and a hot bar for grab-and-go. The Indian dishes chosen for the menu are ones popular across the country.

Shahed has tested the recipes on Sabrina and she is the barometer for tenderness. He said meat is overcooked where he’s from. He is all for spicy food but Sabrina is one to shy away from heat but can give customers an idea of how spicy things are.

Shahed thinks this will be the last restaurant he opens but Sabrina said never say never since he is always thinking about new ideas.