Couple who moved to Leeds for 'a better life' open Greek street food café

The couple speak about what brought them to Leeds and the biggest challenge they currently face

A couple who moved to Leeds for "a better life" have opened their own Greek street food café.

Endrion Pepa, 40, serves up Greek street food with his with wife Megi Marina. They opened their café and takeaway Mistreci, on The Crescent, Hyde Park Corner, two months ago. They’ve spoken about what brought them to Leeds, saving up money to start a business and biggest challenge they currently face.

The couple are originally from Albania but Endrion was raised in Greece and is a dual-national. Megi says they came to Leeds for “a better life”. Endrion moved to the UK in 2017 and Megi followed on a year later. They have since started a family in the city, and are parents to five-year-old twins.

Endrion originally moved to London to find work and build a future for his family. However, it became clear very quickly that London wasn’t the city for him. After one week, he felt the North was calling to him.

Endrion said: “When I first came, I was in London, it wasn’t for me. I started doing kitchen works. It was expensive. Leeds is cheaper. I don’t like big cities, it’s not big like London. It’s much better. Especially when you have a family."

Speaking about the advantages of Leeds, Megi added: “It’s a nice city, you have a lot of opportunities for work and everything.”

Explaining how he achieved his goal of opening a takeaway, Endrion said: “In Greece I worked in a small restaurant with my sisters. After, I saved some money and I’ve opened the shop now. Business is not bad, every day it’s going better. For me, it’s the first time. My first business.”

The father-of-two said there’s one simple golden rule to being successful. You have to know the business inside out, and that means not only acting as owner but working from the ground up.

Endrion said: “First of all, you must do the work. I am not only the owner, I am a worker, as well. The good thing is, you must know the job because some other people don’t know the work.

He said training staff has been one of the biggest hurdles since opening, as it has been hard to find the right people.

Endrion explained: “They don’t have the experience. It’s hard to find someone who has the Greek restaurant experience. It’s hard to find the right person.”

Megi added: “It’s not only the experience. If you take someone and you’re training them, it’s okay, they will stay – but as soon as it gets busier, they don’t like it.”

The couple recently opened up on improvements they think Hyde Park needs as Leeds City Council prepares to launch a city-wide improvement scheme.