Turquoise Kitchen, the Turkish concept from the group behind The Real China, is to double its estate after securing a pair of Prezzo sites.
MCA understands that the company, which currently operates sites in Wrexham and West Bromwich, has taken on the Prezzo sites in Derby and Dorchester.
The concept, which serves a range of charcoal grilled meats, meze, salad, and Turkish pizza, aims to capitalise on the lack of mass-market national operators specialising in Turkish cuisine.
It is backed by HJ Tenger Holdings, which operates 12 The Real China buffet restaurants, six sites and counting under its newer Pan-Asian buffet Kungfu, and three Tang’s, an even larger Chinese buffet format.
A Turkish operator made an offer for one of the company’s leases, but it was rejected by the landlord, leading to a one-year trial for the operator on a license agreement.
After being impressed with the cuisine and positive customer reception of the operation, the group developed the branding and interior and have since launched Turquoise in Wrexham and West Bromwich.
Director Zudong Liu said: “They did a really great job. The food and feedback was really good. It’s certainly something that’s not really available in the UK leisure market. The only similar thing is the Real Greek.
“At that time we had two sites we were considering disposing, and we went into a JVD with the operator, and created a much more modern brand.
“Turkish restaurants are mainly family run businesses. We thought, ‘why can’t we put it in locations which don’t work for us?’
“We worked with the operator to create a much more modern brand, and we’re still developing a more contemporary feeling.
“The food is very sophisticated, it’s very healthy, it’s grilled. We are also going to put elements of it, such as the charcoal grill, into Kungfu.”
Liu added that he was looking to work with more operators in a similar JVD/licensed arrangement.
