After moving to New York from Saudi Arabia in 2013, Zee Alharbi found himself indulging in pizza far too often.
The pizzerias in New York are tight-lipped about their dough recipes, but Zee Alharbi was determined to learn how to make pizza at home.
So instead of outright asking New York’s pizza makers how to make their dough, he told them how he was doing it. Through their own pride, they corrected the mistakes Alharbi was making and, by implication, shared pieces of their own recipes.
Upon compiling input from a handful of pizza makers, Alharbi went to work at adjusting and honing in on his own, unique dough recipe.
3rabiana, or “Arabiana,” is not a pizza truck, but Alharbi’s path to making his own unique pizza dough recipe exhibits his passion for food.
The culmination of his hard work and dedication to cooking will be on display Tuesday, Feb. 21 at the grand opening of 3rabiana in the parking lot of Old Time Pottery on East Battlefield.
Alharbi will be slinging sandwiches at 3rabiana from 11:15 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday on the west end of the parking lot of Old Time Pottery, located at 1535 E. Battlefield in Springfield.
After years of COVID delays and R&D, Alharbi is excited to share his food with the world
It wasn’t long after Alharbi moved to New York that he sought to further his education. Having studied epidemiology in Saudi Arabia, he got accepted to Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, where he got his bachelor’s degree to become a paramedic and met his wife.
During his time in Joplin, Alharbi found himself traveling to Springfield and Kansas City regularly to explore their sizable and diverse restaurant scenes. Some of his favorite eateries in Springfield include Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant and the Chicago Cheesesteak Company.
In 2020, they moved to Springfield, where he got a job as a paramedic at CoxHealth. Now he primarily serves as a transfer center coordinator, though he wears many hats in health care.
As much as he aspires for the success of 3rabiana, Alharbi still wants to continue his career as a paramedic, a path he chose that completely changed his life.
“I left a country, a whole family and learned a second language to be a paramedic,” he said. “So that is something very, very big for me. I don’t want to just give up on it.”
So for the foreseeable future, Alharbi will find himself working seven days a week, all while balancing his family life as a husband and father of two kids.
Alharbi has been planning 3rabiana for years, ever since purchasing an empty food truck in 2019. After the sale, in which Alharbi discussed religion with the seller of the truck, who is a Christian, he was given a leaflet full of Bible verses and $40, as a personal gift.
Then along came COVID-19, and he had to put his goals on hold, especially as a health care worker.
He found himself transporting COVID patients to and from Kansas City and St. Louis across multiple shifts. Even when he had days off, he was too exhausted to work on the food truck.
And between his wife getting pregnant with their second child and trying to go back home to Saudi Arabia to visit his family amid travel restrictions, life – and the continuing pandemic – delayed 3rabiana further.
Additionally, he had to adjust some of the plans that he had previously made as the cost of just about everything he would need to get off the ground and operate increased.
In recent months, he has found the time to start filling out the food truck with kitchen supplies.
“I am not familiar with codes, I do not have a degree, I am not an electrician,” he said. “There’s a lot of stuff that I need to be very, very careful about. So I kept learning the past three, four years on how to build a food truck.”
He has also used the time to zero in on his recipes and test out dishes on his friends and family.
“The plan was already set to open a food truck, but I wanted the reaction before I actually opened everything,” Alharbi said. “They loved it. They wanted me to open sooner.”
With the support of Springfield’s food truck community behind it, 3rabiana is accessible, Halal-friendly
Before finding a home for 3rabiana to set up shop in Springfield, Alharbi reached out to local food trucks to see how his venture would be received by the industry. He wanted to be seen as a friend, not merely a competing business.
“They were very helpful,” he said. “Actually, they stopped multiple times asking if we needed anything.”
While there’s a handful of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean restaurants and food trucks that offer dishes that share similarities to his, Alharbi’s menu brings something different — and accessible — to Springfield.
While remaining approachable by the general public, 3rabiana’s entire menu is also Halal, in order to provide a new food truck option for Springfield’s Islamic community.
“I want non-Muslims to eat and I want Muslims to eat, but I want them to have a trusted source of food,” he said, noting that he was able to get a Halal certification. “…The city is expanding and the population of Muslims is increasing…Every time they want to eat something, they either have to cook it or drive somewhere else, because they do not have the option here.”
This initially posed a challenge for Alharbi, as he sought wholesale ingredients that met requirements of Islamic law.
“That is one of the struggles,” he said. “If I do not have the Halal meat, I will not be selling shawarma. If I do not have the Halal meat, I will not be selling the beef with hummus.”
He was grateful to find a representative at Springfield Grocer Company who has been extremely helpful in sourcing the Halal-compliant ingredients that Alharbi needs.
Alharbi hopes to sling his lineup of sandwiches sustainably
Alharbi will be running the food truck solo at the start and will hire help if needed. In order to manage a large number of customers and ensure consistency, he has worked diligently to streamline the menu.
To start, he will be offering three primary sandwich options: chicken shawarma (which also has a deluxe option), falafel and hummus bil lahme. Additionally, he has “Frenbits,” cubed, deep-fried potatoes, as a side option. The term, he said, is derived from French fries.
As he becomes accustomed to the operations of a food truck and continues to develop new recipes, he hopes to add more options to the menu in the future, including manakeesh. While not pizza, the Levantine food would allow him to employ skills he picked up in New York.
“It’s basically pizza dough, with whatever toppings you want,” he said.
It is often topped with cheese, ground meat and za’atar, among other accouterments.
Additionally, he has been testing out a shakshuka “sandwich.”
Alharbi is conscientious of the environmental impact the nature of a food truck can have and has taken some measures to limit it.
In addition to serving his food in disposable containers made from recycled materials, he is powering the truck partly through solar panels. He hopes to be able to buy and install more to make his operations 100 percent solar-powered.
Based on the response he’s received being shared on social media, Alharbi is preparing for a big first day. With the support behind him and confidence in his food, he hopes it remains big.
Editor’s Note: Changes were made to the story to accurately reflect the type of cuisine 3rabiana is offering.
