THE owner of a town centre restaurant hit hard by the pandemic lockdowns has bounced back by becoming a fish and chip shop.

Persian Kitchen boss Amir Amani opened his Commercial Road business in December 2019 and had just begun building up a customer base and receiving good reviews for his food when Covid-19 hit the UK.

Months of lockdowns proved too tough for the takeaway to survive in its current form, so he closed the place down and took on other jobs doing deliveries and washing up for London restaurants just to get by and pay rent for his business.

As the end of this year’s lockdown restrictions approached, the 40-year-old asked his uncle Kam Roohi for help with relaunching his business because Kam has experience setting up chippies and grills in Gloucester.

Earlier this month, Persian Kitchen reopened as Oh my Cod! with Kam at the fryer serving up meals and Amir overseeing everything.

Amir said: “This business was my passion so it was really difficult to close but we were only a little company and very new, so we were sinking, it was stressful, we were desperate.

“We had such good feedback before Covid so I’ve decided to give it another shot. Everything was freshly-made and that’s going to be the same now, though the food is different.

“It’s really exciting for me to get back into the swing of things and making things happen after visualising it and putting together the website and coming up with the new name.

“Everything came together really quickly, people have been very kind, my friends helped make the sign.

“I grew up in a family of restaurant owners and chefs so from a young age, I was learning about the business during the school holidays, it’s in my blood.

“Every time I visit Gloucester, I go to my uncle’s shop, it’s the best, so I asked him to give me a hand in restarting this, he’s a magician.”

Food hygiene inspectors popped in on Tuesday and gave the restaurant a five out of five rating.

Kam boasted that high-quality ingredients and years of experience will make his fish and chips ‘batter’ than any other.

He added: “I’ve been in this trade for 37 years, my shops have won awards.

“It’s all experience and I’ve been doing things my way for so long that it’s become great. Using organic potatoes, taking out any chemicals, changing the oil regularly, cooking at the right temperature, not leaving anything in there for longer than 20 minutes, it all makes a difference to the taste.”

Amir hopes to bring back the Persian Kitchen’s cuisine at a later date for customers who have been asking for their old favourites to return. Visit ohmycod.biz