Kurdish restaurateur’s business boosted by Norwegian PM’s visit

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A Kurdish man’s fledgling Norway restaurant business has been boosted by a surprise visit from the country's prime minister earlier this month, he told Rudaw.

Premier Erna Solberg told Twitter she would be making the 300 kilometer journey from the southwest Norway city of Stavanger to the capital Oslo on January 7. She sought a recommendation for an en route fast food joint.

“What’s the best fast food place on the road?” Solberg asked her near 300,000 followers.

Some respondents suggested Valand Burger and Grill, a restaurant in the town of Mandal, midway between the two cities. It is owned by Hazhar Rahim, a Kurdish man originally from the Kurdistan Region city of Erbil.

“The prime minister came to my restaurant, accompanied by six other people. They ordered hamburgers and I prepared them in the best way, then they ate them,” Rahim told Rudaw on Wednesday.

Solberg ordered a hamburger, fried potatoes and a Pepsi.

“She really liked the hamburger and thanked me many times. This made me very happy,” the restaurateur said, adding that the meal of the PM and her team came to a grand total of $130.

Praise for the meal did not end there. One week later, Hazhar received a letter from Solberg, thanking him for a “delicious hamburger.”

“When I was on my way from Stavanger to Oslo on Tuesday, January 7, I stopped by your restaurant. A thousand thanks for the delicious hamburger you prepared. I wish you and your business success,” read an official letter from the Norwegian premier.

Born in Erbil in 1992, the restaurateur migrated to Norway in 2008 after his father passed away. He formerly worked as a caterer for a swimming pool, but later borrowed some money to establish his own restaurant in March 2019.

The prime minister’s visit has made his restaurant very busy, he told Rudaw.

Additional reporting by Karwan Faidhi Dri

Kurdish restaurateur’s business boosted by Norwegian PM’s visit

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