Zouk and you will find a real treat

Amjad Bashir was born in Lahore, the Punjabi capital famed for its good food.

So it perhaps fitting that he has made a name for himself as a restauranteur.

Lahore is know all throughout Pakistan for its food. People come from all over to sample it, he says, sitting in the stylish surroundings of Zouk, the Leeds Road tea bar and grill that he and other family members opened last year.

Lahorites love dining out, and they really appreciate good food. he says.

Zouk is the second restaurant opened by Amjad, known to friends as 'Peter', building on the success of the popular Kebabeesh in Greengates, which he opened in 1979. But the former pupil of Thornton Grammar School did not set out to carve a career in the restaurant trade.

He was eight when his family left Pakistan to move to England, where his father found empoyment in Bradford's textile mills.

At first he worked in the wool industry, says Amjad. Then in the early 1960s he started his own business - a grocers in Oldham, the went into the fabrics trade. He began buying fabrics and selling them to the Asian community.

Amjad desicded to take a completely different path and pursue a career as a chemical engineer. I was always good at chemistry, physics and maths and thought that would be my vocation in life. he says.

He began a degree course in chemical engineering at Bradford University but realised it wasn't for him. I left and joined my parents' fabric business. he recalls.

Although he enjoyed dealing with customers, Amjad didn't settle. I wanted to do something that would bring in people from across Bradford, something different that a wide cross-section of people would enjoy. he says.