News / redland
New vegan restaurant will also specialise in tea
Two friends who have known each other since they were 15 are combining their passions of vegan food and speciality tea to open a new restaurant and bar in Redland.
Nic Greenwood and Noda Marvani hope to open Koocha in early March in a corner building which for more than a decade has been Number 10 on Zetland Road, owned by Noda’s father Kaz.
When Kaz made the decision to retire, Noda spotted her opportunity to take over the family business but give it her own focus.
is needed now More than ever
One phone call later and her childhood friend Nic, a tea sommelier currently based in London, had agreed to be part of the new restaurant, with the food taking a Persian theme to reflect Noda’s Iranian heritage.
“We are both so passionate,” said Noda, 42, who lives in Clifton and currently works in recruitment and HR.
“Persian food is really delicious. The flavours are all there. You really don’t have to have all the meat, and it goes hand in hand with tea.”
Nic, 41, who already owns her own tea company, has plans for around a dozen different varieties of loose leaf teas in Koocha, as well as regularly changing specials and tea-infused cocktails.
The self-confessed “full-on tea geek” was first introduced to tea by her grandmother and is evangelical about its tastes and health benefits.
“We want to educate people,” Nic says. “Educate meat eaters and those who drink builder’s tea. It’s not about preaching, it’s just about showing them another way.
“We both want to bring something great to our home city.”
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