The latest tenant to join the other food and drink businesses in Inverness’ Victorian Market has officially opened to the public.
Future visitors to the new-look market will have the opportunity to choose from a range of dishes at new vegan takeaway Salt N Fire, run by Anthony Khoury and Lara Elsayed.
It will join the likes of Moonshine, Bad Girl Bakery, its sister company Good Girl Greengrocer, and The Highland Street Food Pop Up.
Further businesses are expected to set up shop in the vacant spaces, of which there are 15 in total, in the coming months.
Salt N Fire, from today, will be open from noon to 8pm daily.
The takeaway boasts a team of seven. However, Anthony, who lives in Hawick, says he and Lara will be looking to expand.
Buddha bowls, empanadas, and falafel
Lara, from Elgin, heard about the plans to open a food hall in the Market, and so the pair jumped at the chance to get a unit of their own.
The menu is split into six sections named Pots of Joy, Soulful Bowls, You’re a Handful, That’s a Wrap, Locked N Loaded, and Wontons.
The Pots of Joy and Soulful Bowls sections feature the most dishes, including a poke bowl comprising seasoned sushi rice, dressed wakame salad, pickled ginger, miso and soy aubergine, and fresh vegetables.
A Vietnamese salad, baba ganoush, hummus, and falafel also feature, as well as tofu halloumi, dirty fries, kimchi, and mixed vegetables.
Dish prices at Salt N Fire range from £3 to £12 and can be enjoyed in the food hall’s seating area or outwith the premises.
Anthony said: “Because of the size of the unit, we decided to do something unusual – open a solely vegan takeaway.
“Inverness and the Highlands in general have a progressive reputation and if our venture is to succeed we’re in the best place for it to happen. It’s been a long journey.”
Quality not quantity
Anthony, a classically trained chef, worked for Mr Albert Roux under his ICMI brand at the Roxburghe Hotel and Golf Course in Kelso for three years before deciding to open his own restaurant, The Night Safe in Hawick, in November 2020.
Unfortunately, after just six weeks of trading, the eatery was forced to close its doors for the second lockdown. As a new business with 10 members of staff, The Night Safe was not eligible for government support.
In January 2021, Anthony began testing recipes and perfecting food and reopened The Night Safe for takeaway only the following month – advertising through Facebook alone.
Anthony said: “We had to do something to survive.
“We thought we would offer a takeaway service based on food that we as chefs wanted to experience, something different that isn’t available anywhere around us.
“And so inspired by our multi-cultural backgrounds, that’s where the idea for international street food was born.”
The 42-year-old went on to say: “We had a system where we only accepted three orders every 10 minutes to maintain our quality and ran the takeaway as we would a restaurant, putting quality not quantity at the heart of what we do.
“It paid off and we went from strength to strength.”
“After the lockdown [and the reopening of The Night Safe for sit-in dining] people kept asking for our street food to come back.
“So we started looking for suitable premises and began working on it, eventually launching Salt N Fire in June of this year and we have never looked back.”
Conversation