We meet Mitch Renshaw from Sqew Shawarma Bar in Leeds City Centre, one of the Leeds venues which has made the shortlist of the Uber Eats Restaurant of the Year Awards 2024.
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00:00I was aware of the awards but I didn't have my eye on it this year. Then one of the guys
00:04dropped me a message from Uber Eats and said, are you aware you've been nominated? And I
00:08was like, no.
00:09Skew Shawarma Bar on Duncan Street in Leeds City Centre has been shortlisted alongside
00:14nine other Yorkshire food outlets in the Uber Eats Restaurant of the Year Awards 2024. After
00:20an online public vote closes on the 4th of October, the finalists will create a hero
00:25dish for a panel of expert judges. After winning Best Lebanese Restaurant or Takeaway
00:31in the UK at the British Kebab Awards 2024, Mitch Renshaw reflects on his food business
00:36venture.
00:37It was sink or swim from day one. So it was 21st of January 2015 and we opened the store
00:44sort of five or six years later and we were failing and it felt rough and it was rough.
00:50We weren't as good as I believe we should be. I thought we'd done the work but it was
00:54a new industry to me. But I did have the support of two very special people, three
00:59very special people. I have a business partner, Craig, who'd been with me for years and I
01:03had Sammy and Jacob and later on Yasmin and the team. And they'll all say it but without
01:08those guys we wouldn't be where we are today.
01:12What shawarma is, is layers of muscle meat marinated in yoghurt spices and lemon juice.
01:18Marinated, stacked and slowly roasted. This isn't mystery meat, this is the real deal.
01:23We use spices from Lebanon, we use pickles from Lebanon, we use other spices from Palestine
01:28and pickles from Egypt. We make everything here in house. You know, all the spice mixes
01:34for the shawarmas, all the hummus, the garlic sauce, the tahini. We do everything here.
01:39The way people have got behind this business and rallied for this business and enjoy what
01:42we do and live and breathe what we do is phenomenal. And I don't know if it's unusual but it's
01:46unusual experience to me and the team. We're alongside some really serious operators and
01:51some serious players and it's thoroughly exciting. The gang are absolutely buzzing. Everyone's
01:56over the moon and we're rallied to win it.