Rehana Archuleta: The Twisted Fate of a Twisted Ankle

By Karima Alavi
​All photos, compliments of Rehana Archuleta

One comment was all it took:
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It all began when a Sufi Sheikh in Santa Barbara, California, mentioned something unusual to Hakim and Hafsa Archuletta: a group of American Muslims were planning to build an Islamic mosque and madressah (school) in a small New Mexico town called Abiquiu. Shortly thereafter, Hakim and Hafsa gathered their three small children, including the oldest, Rehana, and moved to New Mexico. They first lived in a home that is now on the Hunt property, before moving to a mobile home along county road 155. Eventually they moved to one of the homes on the property of Dar al Islam, where the family would grow to include seven children in all.

​Though Abiquiu holds the place of “home” in her heart, Rehana Archuletta would eventually live in Holland, England, and Hawaii before finally settling in Santa Fe, where she now runs a successful business, Kohinoor Catering.

Rehana (left) and her friend, Layla Safiyyah, in Abiquiu.

Childhood memories of Abiquiu bring up thoughts of freedom, joy, and pretty much a childhood paradise when Rehana thinks back to what it was like to grow up on the grounds of Dar al Islam. There were mountains to explore, arroyos to swim in, other children to play with, especially after Dar al Islam developed an onsite elementary school that served the many Muslim families who had moved to Abiquiu and the surrounding area to be part of the exciting project of developing the mosque and school. All was well. Then the teenage years hit. Along with the boredom, came a determination to move away. At the age of 18, Rehana left for Santa Fe where she found a job at a restaurant.

However, it was not just any restaurant. She had landed at the prestigious Bistro 315, now called the 315 Restaurant and Wine Bar. The owner of the French restaurant, still located on Santa Fe Trail, sent Rehana on a New York tour of high-end eateries. From that point on, she was hooked; it was the food service industry for her. Except for one slight detour, when everything turned into a circus. Literally.

A slight five-year detour:

It was another twist of fate, or perhaps one could say a twisted ankle, that threw Rehana’s life in another direction. For a while, at least. While visiting Abiquiu, Rehana had a nasty fall and broke a foot. Working all day in a restaurant became impossible. She had a friend who was leaving her position in the ticket office for Cirque Hawaii, a performance-based circus modeled on Cirque du Soleil. Rehana got the job, but it didn’t last long. She quickly worked her way up to Operations Manager and spent the next five years working from Hawaii, with mostly Russian performers. Rehana’s job was to transport shipping containers filled with costumes, equipment, lighting, and props to seaports from where they’d be delivered to wherever the performers and staff were settling. The crew would stay at a variety of places, each for a few days at a time, before moving on to the next town. Once the company morphed into Cirque Polynesia, Rehana’s responsibilities were to get cast, crew, and equipment to places like the Philippines, Guam, Saipan, Malaysia, Japan, and other far-off lands where audiences awaited the arrival of the circus.

Rehana (center) with circus performers.

Back to New Mexico:

Rehana eventually returned to New Mexico and jumped right back into the world of food services with an assistant manager position at Bistro 315. She learned even more about the business side of restaurants when she became the manager of Mu Du Noodles. In the meantime, she married an Afghani man and learned the intricate details of Middle Eastern foods from her (now former) mother-in-law. She puts her own twist on traditional eastern foods, making them healthier and well-suited for the American palate. Rehana’s father, Hakim, is also an excellent cook who’d been teaching her how to make her way around a kitchen, since she was quite young.

As seen in my April 12, 2015 article for Abiquiu News, the Archuletta family is continuing the tradition of passing these skills down the family line, with Rehana’s daughter, Hadiyyah, learning to cook and bring comfort to others through food.

All these experiences led Rehana to conclude that she was ready to start her own business. Food trucks were becoming a trend in Santa Fe. At that exact same time, Meow Wolf was bringing a new center of experiential art to the city. Rehana lucked out. Meow Wolf was more than happy to join forces with Rehana and have her serve delicious meals from her food truck, Kebab Caravan, that was settled in their parking lot.

Even with the success of her food truck, Rehana wanted to move on to something else—a catering business. She sold the food truck and got ready to expand, ready to bring food to weddings, business events, retreats. Then… Covid hit. She wasn’t going anywhere. By shifting gears, she was able to sell take-out meals that she cooked at home.

Kohinoor Catering:

Ever since the quarantines were lifted and life returned to some semblance of normalcy, her work blossomed into the successful business, Kohinoor Catering. You can reach Rehana’s business at (505) 577-9987.

Rehana serving another delicious meal at a Dar al Islam event.

Afghan Resettlement Project:

Another project Rehana has been active with is the Asheyana Project, an effort to assist refugee women who are trying to find their way in their new lives in the Santa Fe area. Rehana provided job training for some of these women who were part of the rising tide of refugee families who arrived in New Mexico after the fall of the Afghan government. The word Asheyana is a Dari word that means “a place where people live, where they feel comfort and support; a place where they can come together.”
Having suffered oppression under Taliban rule, many of these women had never earned their own money. Few had gone to school, and none of them knew how to drive. With Rehana’s assistance, several Afghani women learned how to drive, and eventually received driver’s licenses.

Initially, these efforts received funding assistance from Las Cumbres Community Services, a Santa Fe organization that helps newly relocated families integrate into communities. Recently, federal support for such efforts has suffered significant cuts. The Afghan Resettlement Project has not been able to continue their services, though Rehana still manages to train a few individuals and assist them with their search for permanent employment.

Las Cumbres Community Services continues to offer immigrant and refugee services in the Santa Fe area. If you would like to support their STAR program, (Support for Trauma-Affected Refugees) you can donate here by scrolling down to “How to get involved”:  https://www.lascumbres-nm.org/star

​In the end, it has been a wild ride for the child who grew up in Abiquiu, traveled much of the world, and returned to her New Mexico roots in the end. Many of us are waiting to see where her next adventure will take her.

Interested in tasting some of Rehana’s dishes? Stop by Dar al Islam during the Abiquiu Studio Tour on October 11 & 12 (not open on Monday, 10/13). Her food was quite a hit last year, and is sure to please visitors again as they make their way through beautiful autumn scenery, and browse the offerings of Abiquiu’s artists.