Meet the Toronto-based South Asian food pop-up you need to know about

A Toronto food pop-up serving seriously impressive Pakistani and Indian eats comes from a duo with equally distinguished culinary resumés, and you're going to want to keep an eye on it.

Though Arush Vardhan Singh and Syed Mohammed Ahmed are busy building an empire on South Asian cuisines with their pop-up, Shipra, these days, they first met at a restaurant that served an eclectic array of international cuisines.

"From 2019 to 2023, I was the chef de cuisine at Elevator Bistro in Burlington," Arush tells blogTO. 

"Syed had dined with us in the past and was a huge fan of our seasonal, ingredient-forward, and technique-driven cooking.  He joined our team as one of the cooks and grew exponentially, taking over our bread and fermentation program."

Syed Ahmed and Arush Singh.

During their time at Elevator — which has since become No. 8 — the two would often find themselves batting around ideas for a pop-up that combined their culinary heritages: Arush being Indian and Syed Pakistani.

When Arush became the Head Chef at 915 Dupont for their opening in 2023, he brought Syed along, and the dream for their pop-up venture continued to simmer. In May 2024, they held their very first pop-up, then simply billed under their names, at the Brick Room.

For the first two years in business, during which 11 events took place, the pop-ups were simply billed as "Chef Arush Singh and Syed Ahmed."

"For the first two years we just couldn't think of a name that spoke to us, especially with what we were doing," Arush explains. "We didn't want to take the cliched route of naming it after a spice or utensil, rather something more personal."

Come spring 2026, the perfect name dawned on them: Shipra.

"Shipra is the name of my late mother, who passed away in 2021," Arush explains. "She was and always will be my true inspiration for food; she's the one who taught me how to cook and the simple joy of sharing a meal with someone."

It's especially fitting, Arush explains, because he and Syed often serve up faithful interpretations of familiar foods from their childhoods — a childhood that, for Arush, Shipra was an unwavering part of.

Eats at the pass of a Shipra pop-up.

"We are not trying to reinvent the wheel with our cuisine, just serving things as we remember them. Maybe some refined tweaks here and there, influenced by our fine dining background, without losing its identity," Arush says.

Since rebranding as Shipra, Arush and Syed have held pop-ups at local hot spots such as Belle Isle, Hamilton's Le Tambour and Nile Coffee & Bar, all while maintaining their full-time gigs: Arush, a chef at Jamil's Chaat House, and Syed, a sous chef at Le Tambour.

If all this talk of sizzling South Asian comfort food has you chomping at the bit to swing by Shipra's next event, you'll unfortunately have to rein it in for now: after a busy summer, the duo is taking some time off with plans to return in September or October.

Beyond that, though, Arush tells blogTO that a brick-and-mortar restaurant is his and Syed's end goal. The pop-ups, he says, are a great way to fine-tune their approach and get acquainted with the city's different neighbourhoods, but one day, Shipra will have a home of its own.

 "I'd want Shipra to be a restaurant where everyone feels welcomed. You could come visit for a quick snack and a cold beer, or you could also have an elaborate dining experience with a well-curated wine pairing; not just something you have to plan for a special occasion," Arush explains.

For now, the restaurant and Shipra's future pop-ups remain obscured by the fog of the future, but you can stay up to date on all of their upcoming moves by following them on Instagram.