How much do you love your dog? More people have Googled "Is my dog happy?" than "Is my kid happy?," according to Psychology Today. And in San Francisco, studies have found that there are more dogs than children. So naturally, it'd make sense to start having proper dining options for canines, right?
Rahmi Massarweh, a classically French trained chef opened Dogue (pronounced like "rogu e''), a dog-food brand serving food and meals out of a cafe in San Francisco last month with his wife, Alejandra. Menu-item prices range from $2.50 to $95.
When Massarweh exited the demanding culinary world in 2015 — one of the toughest choices of his life — he left a successful career as an executive chef, and decided to rededicate his life to his wife and family.
"My in-laws were gracious enough to allow us to stay in their small, tiny little basement and gave us a suggestion of offering dog walking, just to make a little bit of pocket change," Massarweh told Insider.
During this time, Massarweh continued feeding fresh foods to his mastiff. Everywhere he went with Grizzly, he got compliments about his dog's health and demeanor. Massarweh thought he had something here and opened a dog daycare with his wife.
"While operating the daycare, we started to get more inquiries about our dog food," Massarweh. "I'll never forget the very first client who asked us to make food for their dog."
This dog was a 12-year-old golden retriever who was diagnosed with cancer and given only two months to live. Massarweh's wife insisted he prepare meals for the terminally ill dog.
"At first, I wasn't too thrilled about making food because I had just left a career in the restaurant industry," Massarweh said.
Massarweh said one week went by, then two weeks, and two years later, the golden retriever was still living. In 2015, couple started offering small batch, artisanal meals for their clients.
"The only change was adding fresh food to her diet," Massarweh said. "That's where we fully started making the commitment to offering this."