A FOOD-loving family who started an at-home food service during Covid have opened a new takeaway following the business’s success.
Fat Cow in Bradford city centre opened a few weeks ago after Mohammed Syeed - known to his customers as ‘Sid’ - decided to "take the year out during the Covid lockdowns to focus on providing people of Bradford with delicious food".
Sid said: “During Covid everything was shut down so it was just a way to survive, we had no intention to open anything but this was the response that we had to the food, and it was beyond our expectations, so we’ve taken it the next step further.”
Sid said his "family background has always been in food."
His father ran a successful restaurant in Harrogate for more than 20 years and his brother has run a successful business in Barnsley for 10 years, but despite living in Bradford, they'd never ventured into the food industry here.
So initially they decided to set up a food business "with no overheads, take a year out and see what the response was" and it turned out "really positive".
They now offer a range of ‘simple but tasty’ dishes, including the popular naga chicken wings which are marinated in a spice that originates from Sid’s parents' Bangladeshi origins.
Sid added: “There’s a lot of places that sell naga sauce but it's not in Bradford, it's more London and Manchester so we’ve created our own to the taste of Bradford.
“It’s kind of a pickle but we’ve incorporated that spice with our flavours and put it in the burgers and the doner which has been really popular.”
They also sell homemade desserts, including deconstructed cheesecakes which are built to order, and milkshakes, such as the 99’ – to give people a taste of their childhood.
Sid added that they go by the ethos ‘KISS’ which means, “Keep It Simple Stupid” so the business model would be easy to franchise if they’d like it to grow, but everything on the menu is “very unique”.
“Food has been in our line of work for years, so we knew we could make good quality food and with Bradford having a lot of food outlets, and everyone being spoilt for choice, we thought we’d tap into the market and provide good food, and all of our knowledge and give Bradford a unique service,” he added.
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