Sedat Zorba converted his Upper Grosvenor Road cafe in 2017
Sedat Zorba, owner of Zorba Meze Grill in Tunbridge Wells (Image: Sally Loram)
Zorba Meze Grill is Kent's number one Turkish restaurant according to TripAdvisor.
Its rise is of the county's great success stories.
Sedat Zorba turned the cafe he'd had since 2009 into Zorba in 2017.
With 60 covers, Sedat opened the restaurant even before the new sign was above the door.
Sedat acquired the shop next door and expanded Zorba in December to 150 covers and he's still packing out the restaurant.
He is now eyeing up Horsham to open his second Zorba.
"Easy to eat vegan and vegetarian in a Turkish kitchen"
Explaining Zorba's success, he said: "I know the Tunbridge Wells people. They are highly-educated and you can't cheat them. That is why we opened up our kitchens and our windows, so they can see how the food is prepared, how clean we are, how we work.
"In a Turkish kitchen everything has to be made fresh from scratch. You can't freeze things. We're very passionate about what we do and do our best and if people see this, they will support you."
"Think about what you can do different from other places"
He believes the ambiance he has created through his own design and build has also been a winner at Zorba.
He said: "We wanted to take people away through the atmosphere, so they feel they are in Turkey."
Location has served Zorba well.
"We have got a secondary location rather than a primary one. We are in the corner of a four-way junction and in a day maybe 2,000 or 3,000 cars pass by and they can see in the restaurant and that it's busy. They tell us, we saw it and wanted to come in," he said.
And, finally, Sedat said: "Think about what you are doing. Think about what you can do better and different from other places. Speak to your customers."
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