Use our Spectrum News app for the best experience and stay connected with your community. learn more

Raleigh, North Carolina — Saif Rahman is the executive chef of Vidrio, a Mediterranean restaurant located in downtown Raleigh. He is now this year's North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association's top chef of the year.

In August, he competed with the state's 13 best delicious chefs in the 2021 NCRLA Chef Showdown to create two unique local dishes.

"There are very talented and amazing chefs. I don't even know how I won, I just cook, and that's what I do. I just cooked," Rahman said. 

Rahman comes from a family of farmers, which made him passionate about the food he grows since he was a child. He traced his love of cooking back to his Bengali ancestry. Born in Bangladesh and raised in New York, his life eventually brought him to Raleigh, North Carolina 

Now he calls the Tar Heel State his home, and he makes every effort to cook with the best ingredients North Carolina has to offer. 

"We have everything from sunburst trout, Carolina mountain trout to truffle farmers, bison farmers, the most beautiful rice... it’s all incredible. I mean, I can walk the whole God," Rahman said. 

Rahman is now one of six culinary ambassadors in the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The ambassadors are culinary spokespersons for the Got To Be NC program, which aims to develop and expand the domestic and international markets for food, fiber, and forest products in North Carolina. 

"I am very excited. As an ambassador, I want to show unknown farmers who grow these beautiful products. We haven't seen too many, we haven't seen too many chefs talking about it, I want to show these ingredients and what they do Incredible work," Rahman said. 

Congratulations to all 2021 NCRLA Chef Showdown winners: