About

Rizwan Asad is a Toronto-based writer, best-known for Chocolates & Chai. And his need to constantly tell people about his cat.

Rizwan was born and lived in the Middle East for the early part of his life, prior to attending boarding school in England. He completed  both his BA in Social & Biological Anthropology and his MA in International Relations at Durham University. He studied French Language & Civilization at the University of Sorbonne, and completed programmes in Strategic Management & International Business Environment at the London School of Economics, as well as a course on Writing Short Stories at the University of Toronto. 

After living and working in four countries, Rizwan moved to Toronto, Canada in 2013, where he started his food blog, Chocolates & Chai. In 2017, the blog was selected as one of eight finalists (out of over 30,000 nominations worldwide) as a Readers’ Choice finalist in the Saveur Blog Awards.

In his free time, Rizwan enjoys spending time with his cat, Nessie – typically, she’ll fall asleep on his lap while he reads a book, watches a movie, or plays video games.

Fun Fact: The only people that call him ‘Rizwan’ are his colleagues, and his parents (but only when they’re very upset). Most of the time, it’s just Riz. 

He works in the financial sector (and hopes you don’t hold that against him). 

Asad’s writing is vivid and descriptive—making it impossible not to feel as if you have climbed through a vibrantly drawn storybook, or crept right into the scene in the middle of a cinematic otherworldly battle.

Independent Book Review