Parvez and Arsheen Kazi remember how they started a small vegetarian
café in November 2009 called Café Souq, specialising in Arabic cuisine.
“While the café started out as a passion rather than a business, I did
not realise a day would come when Souq would become a brand in Ahmedabad
that evokes visions of Mid-Eastern and Mediterranean food,” says
Arsheen. Today, there are three Souqs —Souq Restaurant, Café Souq and
Souq Bistro and Grills, around the Gujarat capital.
Parvez says in 2009, Ahmedabad had mostly multi-cuisine restaurants and a
handful focused on Indian cuisine. He says, “I was born in Dubai and
lived most of my life in the middle-east. Arsheen is from Mumbai and
learnt Arabic cooking when she came to Dubai. When I got posted at the
Ahmedabad office of an airline company, Arsheen felt the city needed a
restaurant with middle-eastern food, specially because we know many
Gujaratis visit the region and enjoy the food there. Arabic, Lebanese,
Moroccan and Turkish cuisines also offer a good choice of vegetarian
dishes, which we felt would work in Ahmedabad.”They started
with the tiny Café Souq with its simplistic décor and casual vibe. “This
was a pure vegetarian restaurant. Since pizza is very popular in
Gujarat, we started out with Manaeesh, which is popular in Levantine
cuisine, Mezze Platter, Falafel, Pita bread sandwich, Fatouche Salad,
Machboos, Awam and Banana Saj. We also introduced hummus with mushrooms
and zucchini. While the café attracted creative professionals in the
afternoon because of its proximity to premium architecture and design
colleges, we found that most people in Ahmedabad dine out and Café Souq
was too small to cater to them.” So was born Souq The Restaurant in a
shopping complex on Vijay Crossroads. Café Souq was re-established in
the food court of AlphaOne Mall. “We introduced Lebanese Sizzlers which
have proved quite popular as have the baked dishes from the
Mediterranean countries. We have even introduced onion and garlic free
Falafal and Hummus for Jain patrons,” says Parvez.
Souq The
Restaurant has bold Egyptian figures and middle-eastern motifs outside
announcing the Arab cuisine. The interiors also have touches of the
Arabic-speaking world. On offer is Harissa or Chermoula Kebabs in
chicken or paneer served with couscous, rice or pita, Kibbey, Shish
Tawook, Turkish Patlican Kebab, Kebab Koobideh, Shawarma, Felafel and
Saj among starters. “But most visitors come for the Mezze Platter. Soups
like Lentil and Spinach, Tarhana Courbasi and Harira are also liked,’’
says Arsheen.
Inspired by the success of their restaurants, Parvez
began to look at expanding. “A new company called Bon Viva was floated
with Kitchen Xpress Overseas Ltd, and its subsidiary Silver Apple
Catering, and our first venture is a restaurant named Souq Bistro and
Grills. We found that in Gujarat, eating out is key entertainment. Souq
Bistro and Grills is designed as a restaurant that offers entertainment
as well—a runway has been created for live performances, with daily
guaranteed entertainment,” explains Parvez.
Having seen their
brand grow, Arsheen says they are now looking beyond restaurants. “We
propose to start quick selling outlets for Turkish and Lebanese
confectionery, baked goods and fast moving food items,” she reveals.
Bon Apetit to that.
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