Two passionate business owners are sharing their love for food through creating fresh, flavourful, mouthwatering favourites that will make you react with a chef’s kiss.
Papa Nash’s
On Main Street, you might be able to smell the warm, flavourful aromas coming from Papa Nash’s kitchen.
Veteran chef Nashir Visram has been busy cooking up east Indian and Afghani-inspired delicacies such as samosas, sauces and kebabs in his new storefront, located in the space that previously housed Maverick’s Donuts.
After 40 years of working in the food industry, Visram is spending the final chapter of his career creating new and trendy food items in Airdrie. He plans to retire in a few years, but wants to build a business someone else can take over and sustain for years to come.
The experienced chef has most recently created his own take on Afghani kebabs, which are currently a hot commodity for foodies. They are available in ground beef, chicken tikka and lamb, paired with marinated and grilled veggies like bell peppers and onions.
“They’re so juicy and tender,” says Visram. “They taste really good.”
He also sells homemade beef, chicken and vegetable samosas, as well as his famous butter chicken, chutneys and sauces.
He previously owned A Fine Balance Foods, famous for its samosa chips, but sold the business because he couldn’t keep up with the demand. The chips were designed during the COVID-19 pandemic when big-box stores were struggling with supply chain shortages.
“They wanted as many chips as we could make because they wanted to fill the shelves,” says Visram. “That took off so fast and we designed about seven different flavours.”
Some of those flavours were chili lime, lemon pepper, barbecue and cinnamon sugar. After selling the business, Visram designed chutneys to be used as dipping sauces for the chips, in flavours like mango habanero, chili lime and blueberry mango.
Prior to owning a business, the Kenya-born chef went to college in England for hotel management and trained and worked at luxury hotels in Montreal. He then came to Alberta and took his expertise to various luxury hotels and golf clubs before eventually moving to Airdrie and becoming head chef at Fletcher Village.
Now, he aims to keep the menu at Papa Nash’s simple so he can guarantee freshness, and he continues to provide catering services for various events. Giving back to the community through providing quality food is his passion.
“My plan is to keep on creating good food,” says Visram. “Food that people receive well, that’s affordable and tastes good.”
For menu inquiries, visit papanashs.ca.
Adamo Bistro
Adam Blasetti grew up around food and always found a love through creating and sharing dishes.
Following a coaching career in the CFL, and later working in oil and gas, Blasetti took a chance on a dream when the opportunity arose to put his food on the market. Adamo Bistro opened in Genesis Place in November 2025, offering a kiosk-style take-and-go food option for those visiting the recreation centre.
“My goal was to try to create a place where we serve real, freshly made quality food at a decent price point,” says Blasetti. “I focused on doing my best to create really good sandwiches and handhelds for what the majority of clientele would be able to sit down and eat.”
Menu items include Italian favourites like gourmet sandwiches, pizza, meatballs and pasta. Everything is made fresh and in-house, including the sauces and pizza dough.
“I make the dough personally in-house daily,” says Blasetti. “I have a soft spot in my heart for the dough because it took me a long time to perfect it. It was a bit of a labour of love.”
Blasetti grew up in a townhome complex and says his family didn’t always have the means to put food on the table or keep the lights on.
“The one thing I remember distinctly though about those times was the community took care of each other via food,” he says. “I remember my mom doing the same. She took care of people by feeding people, and she’s a spectacular cook. That’s kind of how I got a passion for food — watching her as I grew up and feeling the love through food.”
Blasetti was born and raised in Canada, but comes from an Italian background, which inspires his menu items. He is currently balancing running the bistro seven days a week and coaching football at the University of Calgary.
“I remember being that kid that didn’t have money at school, and, with Bert Church being right beside us, I did want to try to create menu items that would be cost effective for the students for lunches,” says Blasetti. “We take pride in what we create, and we put out restaurant-quality food.”
View the menu online adamobistro.com/menu.
