A restaurant owner has revealed his business is ‘on the right track’ roughly three months after opening.
Fayad Moustafa, who owns Flakez in High Wycombe, hopes his latest enterprise can propel him into starting more eateries in the Thames Valley area.
The chef ‘dreams’ of opening an establishment in neighbouring Reading, and after his day job being a cook at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Hyde Park, he hopes his 20-plus years in the culinary industry will pay off.
His burger joint is currently situated at Butlers Pub in Frogmoor.
He told the Free Press: “I used to work in Oxford and have been a chef for around 20 years.
“I have been a chef all my life.
“Last year, I began a partnership with a business that did burger takeaways but we stopped it as it wasn’t financially profitable.
“So I spoke to someone who I knew and said ‘why don’t we start our own takeaway business?’ and we looked everywhere to see where we could it.
“I looked in Reading and Oxford but couldn’t find anything.
“Then, I found a pub in High Wycombe and we managed to come to an agreement, where we can provide them with the food for their customers.
“We thought this was a win-win for us as the pub gets more customers going through their door as there is food, and I sell my food to them.
“We began in March and it was a bit slow, but things are getting better as a lot of our orders are through online.
“In house, the first month was nothing, but the second and third month were a lot better, and we hope we can have more.
“We are on the right track - things are getting better.”
Despite being hidden in the town, Flakez has gained a successful reputation through its online orders.
This has led them to so far gain three Google Reviews, but each of the testimonials being five star – the highest score possible.
Fayad, who is originally from Turkey but has spent most of his adult life in the UK, hopes the growth will continue as we head into the summer holidays.
He continued: “My original plan was to go with a pub in Reading, and in a few months, I hope to gain a good reputation and let it grow.
“And hopefully, I can open in Reading by next summer – that’s the dream.”
The chef and restaurateur is based in Didcot, Oxfordshire.
He also hopes to make the food business ‘more attractive for younger generations.’
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