“All Roads Lead to the Kitchen.”
That was the headline of a Washington Post article from June 1981 that chronicled the winding, international journey of Egyptian chef Elamir Oraby — a man who trained to become a pilot, ran a grocery store, cooked in tavernas and hotels, and eventually found himself in the kitchen of the Marriott in Tysons Corner.
That headline would turn out to be a kind of generational prophecy. Years later, Oraby’s stepdaughter Senna Al-Safari would follow a similar instinct, trading a career in IT for the heat and hustle of a food truck.
Shawarma Rama food truck owner Senna Al-Safari poses with fresh herbs from Nancy’s Produce from the farmers market held at the Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center (4600 Spotsylvania County Pkwy.) Wednesday June 18, 2025. Photo by Jeff Kearney.
Today, she and her husband Robbie run Shawarma Rama, a cheerful mint-green truck with vintage curves and bold white lettering that’s hard to miss at farmers markets and local businesses across Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg. And, if you’ve ever wondered whether it’s worth stopping for — trust me, it is.
What’s happening inside that truck is a deeply personal operation. The falafel is shaped like donuts for perfect all-around crispness, sauces are house-made, and every ingredient is treated with care, right down to the tomatoes sliced only when it’s time to serve.
Senna trained under Elamir, starting out as a private chef and later working at the Marriott, where she met many of her culinary mentors. Although she initially studied food service at Johnson & Wales University, she eventually earned degrees in their Business Administration and Information Science programs and built a successful IT career.
“But,” she says, “something was still missing.”
Robbie left a dangerous industrial job to help launch the truck, trusting Senna’s vision and throwing himself into the work.
“The best part of working together is we both have opposite skills and maximize them when we work together,” Senna says.
Their strengths complement each other, and it shows. They’ve built the kind of place where customers are walked through the menu, offered a sample before ordering and, finally, asked an important question: how spicy do they really want their sauce?
No detail at Shawarma Rama is overlooked.
Remember those sliced-to-order tomatoes? While slicing them ahead of time might be a time-saver, Senna notes that it didn’t give the freshness and crispness she wanted.
Robbie Hogan (right) gives Adhm Ibrahim some grilling tips during Shawarma Rama’s weekly appearance at the Farmers Market held at the Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center.
Senna and Robbie buy as much produce as they can right from the farmers market when arriving on site — ensuring customers have the freshest possible ingredients. All of the meats are halal (prepared in a manner permissible to practicing Muslims), and everything is fresh and flavorful. They also create seasonal vegan and vegetarian specials like lentil moussaka, cabbage with carrots and potatoes and a rotating selection of soups in the winter.
Senna grew up eating shawarma, a staple she likens to burgers or BBQ. Each region has its own twist on the dish.
Still, when she launched the truck, she felt uncertain about how her Yemeni background would be received.
Al-Safari transfers freshly cleaned vegetables into a prep tray before she hand-cuts all the ingredients.
“I was scared to share my heritage,” she told me. “But I learned how loving and welcoming our community really is.”
To her surprise, many customers were already familiar with shawarma, often sharing stories of having tried it in places like Turkey, Greece, Bahrain, and Kuwait.
Can’t Miss Dish
While everything I sampled was delicious, the standouts were really the sauces. I admit I’ve never cared much for tzatziki. I understand the appeal, but the yogurt flavor always seemed to overpower any underlying spices to me.
Shawarma Rama’s homemade tzatziki is, by far, the most delicious I’ve ever tasted — perfectly creamy, balanced and cooling while enhancing the red Scotch bonnet pepper sauce. (Fair warning: the red sauce is outstanding, but very spicy.) When asked about it later, Senna let me in on a little secret: she uses sour cream rather than yogurt as the base. Next time I try to make tzatziki at home, that will be my go-to.
Or I can just go back to Shawarma Rama.
What I’m Ordering Next
Next time I spot Shawarma Rama’s familiar mint-green truck, I’m looking forward to trying the chicken shawarma. The chicken is grilled onsite, but the rain precluded grilling during my visit. I’m also planning on stopping by for breakfast when they’re parked at the Fredericksburg Farmers Market. They offer homemade shakshuka that I can’t wait to try.
Looks like I’ll just have to come back again. All roads really do lead to Shawarma Rama.
Planning to track them down? Shawarma Rama posts their weekly schedule on Facebook, and they’ll be offering mobile catering soon.
