Pod#183 - Zoya Marri (feat Kazi Akber) - Running a fine dining restaurant in Karachi

TPR Pod

Finally putting out the first of two excellent episodes I'd been wanting to record for a long time. This one is with baker extraordinaire and former fine dining restauranteur Zoya Marri! Something we'd been trying to make happen for over a year. Dive in, its a great one.

Many thanks to brother Kazi without whom this episode wouldn't have been possible.

Things discussed in this episode:

00:00 Intro and why we’re talking to her

03:10 What is happening with her restaurant Thyme currently

05:40 Young Zoya wasn’t into cooking! She was teaching dyslexic children

13:02 How she first got into baking back in 2008/09

19:47 Getting married and her in-laws’ love for food infecting her too

24:37 She gets back into baking, her banana bread is immensely popular

28:35 Interlude on Facebook food-groups and how perhaps NOT to run a business

30:24 Her baking plans grow, the family encourages her to take the next steps

32:43 Chaotic interlude as a surprise guest joins

33:25 Back to talking about her first physical venture, and her in-laws’ honest feedback

38:38 How they were approached to join the original Thyme

41:32 How Zoya had to change if she wanted her restaurant to be done right

45:50 Learning how a restaurant works, going perhaps a bit overboard with the design

50:42 The restaurant launches, gets off to a tough start

55:05 “If you don’t like the food, you don’t pay”

58:32 Bakery clientele vs upscale restaurant clientele - DISCOUNT LOVERS

1:03:43 Social media food groups and people who love to tear you down

1:11:14 Zoya’s no-compromise approach to using only the best ingredients

1:21:49 How the 2020 floods, COVID and daily toll lead to Thyme being closed

1:29:28 Lessons learned and how the restaurant changed them

1:35:57 Would she open another restaurant? How about a bakery?

1:39:09 What advice would she have for newcomers to the business

1:42:41 An outro full of catchphrases!

LINKS:

Zoya's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoyamarri/

Aurry's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aurrym/

Kazi's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaziakber/

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