Daily News | A pro boxer who owns a cheesesteak spot? Meet Ismail Muhammad, the Philly-est of Philly fighters
Muhammad —"The Chef" — dishes out knockouts as he experiments in the kitchen, recently improving to 2-0 with a win in Atlantic City.
Muhammad grew up about 10 houses from the corner of Crittenden and Price Streets, where customers order cheesesteak egg rolls and lemonade from a walk-up window while a portrait of the owner’s smiling face is painted on the door. He started learning how to cook when he was 5 years old as his father, Suetwedien, had him working the grill and deep fryer of his restaurant — also called Essie’s — as soon as he was tall enough to reach them.For Muhammad, cooking is a way of life. So is boxing.
“Boots came up with it,” Muhammad said of his nickname. “I hated it when he first came up with it. I was like, ‘That’s weird; it’s corny. I actually cook, don’t call me that. I don’t want to be called a chef as a boxer.’ He said, ‘No, you go in the ring and you cook people.’ I said, ‘Nah, I don’t like that.’ But as time went by, everyone started saying ‘The Chef, The Chef.’ So it was like ‘Whatever.’ It kind of grew on me.
Essie’s is staffed by Muhammad’s closest friends as they sell beef and chicken cheesesteaks. They’ve added buffalo chicken and jerk chicken and even seafood varieties. Muhammad will scroll social media at night for ideas about what else he can stuff inside an egg roll. He’s always experimenting. They make their own fries, sell chicken wings, and grill burgers.Muhammad wants his place to be known for more than just egg rolls.
His father is the imam at Masjid Muhammad of Philadelphia, the mosque he owns in Germantown near the corner of Belfield Avenue and Penn Street. A boxing gym is on the third floor and his restaurant is across the street. He raised his son there in the Islamic faith, taught him how to cook, and ignited his passion for boxing. Suetwedien Muhammad is now seeing his son chart his own path.
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