Esra & Erdem from Mezze
“We are originally from Turkey, making the move to New Zealand over 15 years ago. Back home I was working in the Tourism Office in Çanakkale, meeting a lot of Kiwis coming to visit Gallipoli. This made New Zealand seem like the perfect place to migrate.”
Tell us a bit about you and your journey, prior to Mezze
My husband Erdem is a chef, previously working in a number of big restaurants in Auckland. We then opened our own mediterranean restaurant and kebab shop before opening Mezze at Made. In between restaurants we’ve had 3 daughters aged 14, 10 and almost 7, and made Hamilton our home.
What can we find at Mezze?
Our best-selling dishes are souvlaki and gözleme. In addition, our Greek salad, falafel and spanakopita are very popular. Not to be forgotten, our famous baklava and Turkish coffee.
Gozleme, written “Gözleme” in Turkish, are crispy flatbreads made from dough and stuffed with delicious savoury fillings such as spinach and feta or beef and cheese. They make the perfect picnic food, work day lunch or anything in between! Just select your filling from our menu.
You can purchase take home olives, hummus and other dips! They make the perfect accompaniments to your weekend platter.
What is the biggest challenge you find running a family business?
As we both work in the business - it can be difficult to juggle our children and have time off all together. But when we do, we appreciate it all the more.
Favourite (other) place to eat at Made?
We love Omo Omo Sushi! It’s always prepared so fresh. My daughters' favourites are bao buns from On a Roll, and the deep fried Oreo from Crack Chicken.
Favourite place to shop at Made?
We love to be able to utilise our fellow Made Market vendors as our suppliers wherever we can, getting our spices from Bare Refill and beautiful fresh produce from Pirongia Mountain Veges. We love the range of meat patty’s at Expleo when picking up dinner at the last minute after work.
