Haverhill seen as the 'ideal' location for a newly-opened Turkish restaurant
The potential for having a new business in a growing town was one of the primary factors behind the opening of a new Turkish restaurant in Haverhill town centre.
Ceo’s Kitchen opened its doors at the start of last week in the High Street premises that had been empty for three-and-a-half years since the Jobcentre relocated.
Behind the enterprise are business partners and experienced restaurateurs Atilla Kaya and his cousin Ozzie Demir.
Ozzie and Atilla already run restaurants and cafés in the London area, and they have brought on board Atilla’s brother Cem Kaya to help with the Haverhill restaurant.
Cem said: “We saw the town and we saw the potential because they didn’t have this type of restaurant, so we thought we would go for it.
“It was in March we found this place and straight away we got in touch with the landlord.
“It took about three months to sort out the lease and I think it was at the end of May that we signed the lease and we started to bring the builders in.”
The building had to be completely fitted out as a restaurant from scratch, and the interior was designed by an architect, with a few tweaks made along the way.
It is now open seven days a week, from 11am to 11pm, and seats 100 diners.
Although Haverhill already has two Turkish restaurants; Star Grill in Queen Street and Crunchy’s, which opened next to Cineworld in August, Cem believes the town is up to accommodating another one.
“This town is big enough for two to three Turkish restaurants,” said Cem.
“It is a big town and it keeps on growing.”
Ozzie and the other chefs are all experienced hands at preparing traditional Turkish food, be it the range of kebabs, such as beyti, shish and kofte and kuzu guvec (lamb casserole).
“We do everything in the way that is should be served traditionally,” added Cem.
The menu also offers numerous vegetarian options, pasta, steaks, a range of fish dishes, plus burgers and children’s meals.
There is also a very extensive wine list, plus cocktails, mocktails and more.
More waiting staff (preferably with experience) are required by the restaurant, which can be contacted on 01440 762563.
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