Saif Rahman

Chef/co-owner Saif Rahman opened Peregrine in Spring 2025 in Raleigh, NC and Eater promptly named it the “Best New North Carolina Restaurant” of the year. Born in Bangladesh and now a longtime North Carolina native, Rahman shares the cuisine of his multicultural path, offering a personal perspective on “first generation American food” through border-crossing plates in a space designed by former filmmaker and co-owner Patrick Shanahan. Referred to as “a deeply personal passport” by The Local Palate, Peregrine is a consummate example of what modern American cooking looks like today. While Rahman’s culinary journey began in Sylhet, a Muslim region known for its tea gardens and rice fields, he lived with his family in Queens, New York, and relocated to North Carolina at age 17. After training at the renowned Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France, and staging at 3-Michelin Star Grace in Chicago, he honed his craft at Durham’s Counting House , worked alongside award-winning Chef Ricky Moore at Spice Street, and received the 2021 North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association “Chef of the Year” award while Chef of Vidrio. Rahman has long been interested in how a meal can bridge divides; he served Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen in Haiti and traveled with the State Department to represent North Carolina in Doha, Qatar. In its first year open, Rahman has cemented Peregrine in the Southeast’s culinary landscape.