Qayum Karzai, owner of the popular The Helmand restaurant in Mount Vernon and brother of a former president of Afghanistan, died Thursday at age 77.
The cause of death was a heart attack, said his son, Helmand Karzai.
The news of his sudden passing stunned his family, friends and the many people who knew him through his Baltimore restaurants.
“He’d been doing great,” Helmand Karzai said. “He’s been as active as ever recently,” and was closely involved with the operations of all three of his eateries. Qayum Karzai, who lived in Glenwood, had just spent Memorial Day weekend with his family and grandchildren.
Since opening The Helmand on Charles Street in 1989 — it was named after both his son and the river in his native Afghanistan — Karzai had a major impact on the city’s dining scene. But he also kept a close watch on the politics of his home country, even running for president at one point to fill a post previously held by his brother, Hamid.
Amu TV, a Virginia-based television station and digital network focusing on Afghanistan, reported that Karzai also returned to his native country for a time after being elected to Afghanistan’s parliament in 2004. After criticism over his absences, he resigned in 2008, the outlet reported.
Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, a family friend and former minister of foreign affairs in Afghanistan, and Said T. Jawad, a former ambassador to Washington, D.C., London and Moscow, were some of the first Thursday to post remembrances of Karzai on social media.
Qayum Karzai was humble about the fare he served and recognized that people went out to eat for reasons beyond dining.
“Don’t assume that you have the best food,” Karzai told Baltimore magazine in 2019. “People are not coming for the food. People are coming in to leave the day behind.”
His persona had an impact on Baltimore’s larger dining scene, too. In the often competitive world of hospitality, his authenticity and kindness stood out. “He knew how to conduct himself as a person,” said restaurateur Tony Foreman. “It resonated with me from the first time that I met him. The graciousness, the thoughtfulness — it has nothing to do with rivalry or competition.”
