By Dean Wells
Step through the double doors of the Option House, 41 Main Street, Bradford PA., and you’ve stepped into a time machine that teleports you back to another era.
Dark wood paneling, tasteful vintage wallpaper, brightly lit chandeliers, a bar that seems to stretch forever, a tin stamp ceiling—the restored former Bradford, Pa. hotel looks like a movie set from the turn of the 20th Century.
A place were oilmen and speculators huddled over glasses of whiskey, making deals that had financial ramifications across the planet.
Those days are long gone. The Options House—originally built in the 1880s and then torn down and reconstructed in 1902 as a magnificent Rococo-style 4-story hotel—came back to life 12 years ago when it was restored by local businessman.
Enter Sheikh Iqbal—known regionally as “Chef Icky.” Over the last decade, Iqbal has labored to turn the Option House into a hidden gem of Mediterranean & Middle Eastern cuisine.
And he has succeeded, most impressively. He calls it Kabob’s. On a recent Saturday afternoon with a steady flow of customers coming in and out of his restaurant, Iqbal took a break and sat down over coffee to talk about his journey from urban Pakistan to northwestern Pennsylvania Iqbal worked at a fabric shop in Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city, before he immigrated in 2001 to the United States at the age of 30. He moved to Olean, NY, where he went to work in the kitchen of an internationally-themed restaurant owned by his former father-in-law, Mian Rafi. Iqbal didn’t know how to speak English.
And he had never cooked in a restaurant before.“He was teaching me everything, every day,” Iqbal said. “And I had an English problem. I started learning that, too, while working in the kitchen, little by little.”
Iqbal worked for Rafi for five years before deciding he wanted to open his own restaurant.
“I wanted to open something small, so I found a place in Ellicottville,” Iqbal said. Using what he learned in Olean, Iqbal put together a simple menu based on what he saw were the best-selling dishes. He picked up new recipes by watching Food Network. “I try to learn new dishes every week and put them on special. If they go over well, I put them on the regular menu.”
Iqbal spent 12 years in Ellicottville with Kabob’s Kafe before deciding to pull up stakes and relocate to Bradford. He learned from a fellow chef who helped him with catering that there was a possible location available. He told Iqbal he should look into it.
“(The Option House) was for sale,” Iqbal said. “And (the owner) Sam Sylvester had had my food before in Ellicottville. He thought I would be a perfect fit.”
Sylvester purchased the Option House in 2008. The once prominent hotel and bustling hub for oil traders had fallen into disrepair. He worked diligently for a year to painstakingly restore the building to its former grandeur. Sylvester operated an establishment for the next five years before he decided it was time to sell.
It was a perfect opportunity for Iqbal.
“At first, I was scared. Ellicottville to Bradford is a huge difference. I saw the building and I knew it would be a big project, but I wanted it. I made a deal with Sam and a month later I moved here.”
Iqbal puts in long hours at Kabob’s. He drives from Olean every morning six days a week to arrive at 7am and stays until 9pm.
“I prep everything in the morning,” Iqbal said. “I do it all. Everything is prepared for the day, then we cook it to order.”
The results are masterful. Rich and creamy curry; flame-kissed kabobs coated with tandoori, finished with a touch of grill char; tender chicken souvlaki with a cool homemade tzatziki; bold and bright chicken tikka. “It’s a traditional curry,” Iqbal said of Kabob’s mainstay dish. “And it’s my favorite.”
When he’s not working at his restaurant kitchen, Iqbal likes to relax at home—but not by cooking.
“I used to cook a lot at home, but not since I remarried. I told my wife that she didn’t have to work, she didn’t have to do anything. Just cook dinner for me—that’s it.
Iqbal does have another relaxation technique: at the end of the night at Kabob’s, he enjoys a bottle of Labatt’s Blue Light beer.
“But not too early,” Iqbal said with a grin. “Not when we still have food to cook.”
Kabob’s at the Option House is located at 41 Main Street, Bradford, Pa. www.ka-bobs.com