Features / Restaurants
‘We want to keep the soul of Thali intact’
Opening outside Bristol for the first time almost proved disastrous for Thali, with their Oxford restaurant closing in May after less than a year and the company going into administration as a result.
It could have been the end for the business that began life as a street food truck at Glastonbury Festival and now has five restaurants across Bristol, with countless thousands of their distinctive tiffins in cupboards across the city.
But just as it seemed that Thali would be no more, four members of staff decided to take on the business themselves – in the process saving their own jobs as well as the livelihoods of 80 colleagues.
is needed now More than ever
“Rather than seeing the hard work of 20 years go down the drain, we just thought, why don’t we try?” said Dominika Sawicka-Harris the other day at the Thali on St Mark’s Road in Easton.
Dominika was one of the four members of the staff involved in the buy-out alongside Pepe Antonio Blanco Rodriguez, Ramesh Prasad and Michael Dillon.
Thali has five restaurants across Bristol
Dominika, who left her home in Toruń in Poland to come to the UK when she was 18, admitted that in its limited time in existence, the Oxford restaurant “became a burden on the whole company”.
She said: “The decision was made to close it and to concentrate on Bristol, with the Thali’s massive history and heritage here.”
For Pepe, originally from Vilareal in Spain, who started off working at Thali as a kitchen porter, his job became much more than that. “I really found my family here,” he said.
Dominika agreed: “From the moment I started at Thali I did find my family here as well. The team of people who we work with is very special.”
The pair admit that the work to change Thali’s fortunes has not been easy, but they are confident that they are making good progress.
A key part of Dominika’s role is to make the business profitable, scaling back any expansion plans for now but still believing that the restaurant could one day sit just as snugly in a neighbourhood in London or Bath as it does in Bristol.
“But that’s in the back of our minds for now,” Dominika said. “We need to be ready. We cannot repeat the mistakes that we made in Oxford.”
Recent developments include a collaboration with Wild Beer and a new snack bar at their North Street restaurant, and just a few tweaks to the menu including improving the chutneys and salads.
“Things just need a little bit of love and a little bit attention, Dominika said. “We need to refresh ourselves a little bit. But remind people that we have not changed. We are still here.”
“We want to keep the soul of Thali intact,” Pepe added.
Main photo: Dominika Sawicka-Harris and Pepe Antonio Blanco
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