A new restaurant opening in south Bristol will serve authentic flavours of the Middle East.
Options on the menu at Yafo, which is replacing Shake Express on North Street, will include falafel, mezze platters and a few "surprise dishes".
Everything will be made from scratch on site, excluding the pitta bread which will be sourced from the Abunoor bakery in St Philips, and the majority of the menu will be vegan.
Restaurant owner Gal Almoznino, who also runs the Sandwi coffee shop chain, said he and his two business partners hope to launch their new restaurant in early March.
Yafo will open as a takeaway-only site if England is still in a national lockdown, but when coronavirus measures are eased it will have outside seating and around 20 covers inside.
"We're really excited to get going," said Gal, who lives in Ashton Gate and has more than 20 years' experience in the catering industry.
"It's a challenging time to open a new restaurant but we're confident we'll still be able to make it work even if we open when the national lockdown is still ongoing thanks to the takeaway nature of the site.
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"We're going to serve dishes that are as authentic as possible, with recipes passed down from grandparents and cooked with passion by a skilled team, bringing the real flavours of the Middle East to North Street."
Gal added that people will "not have tried some of the flavours served at Yafo before unless they have been to the Middle East".
To wash their food down, customers will be able to choose from a selection of beers supplied by Bristol brewery Left Handed Giant, or go for a gin-based drink with the spirit supplied by St Michael's Hill distillery Psychopomp.
"Having lived in south Bristol for years it feels great to be able to bring something exciting to the local community and create jobs," added Gal.
"I've wanted to open a restaurant on North Street for around 10 years and am sure it's going to be a welcome addition to the area."
You can keep up to date on Yafo's opening by following its Instagram page.
