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Turkish restaurant to open in Whitstable high street following merge of Cafe Rio and former fish bar
16:00, 22 August 2021
updated: 09:45, 23 August 2021
A 150-seat restaurant offering Turkish and Cypriot cuisine is set to open in Whitstable high street.
Long-held proposals to merge an existing cafe and a former fish and chip shop have been approved by Canterbury City Council officers.
The creation of the new restaurant, which is due to take on six full-time staff and 10 part-time employees, comes as a rival Turkish chain also plans to launch in the town.
A La Turka, which has a number of branches in the east of the county, wants to move into the old Jobcentre - 12 doors down from the new eatery.
But while it still awaits planning permission, Lavvish - as the new restaurant will be called - is preparing to open next to Mountain Warehouse, opposite M&Co.
Its launch will result in the closure of Cafe Rio, as the unit will be merged with the neighbouring Whitstable Fish Bar, which closed in 2018, to form one large space for the restaurant.
The buildings require significant structural repairs, with the cafe frontage sporting cracks due to a number of interior alterations causing problems over the years.
It has "limited structural integrity" and is deemed to likely become a hazard to the general public if not repaired.
Applicants say the renovations to the buildings will be based on a historic photograph which shows how they once looked in their original form in 1900.
"The current form of the units does not contribute positively to a vibrant high street," the plans state.
"Creating one larger restaurant will invigorate the immediate visual appearance while providing a new local facility."
Seating, the kitchen, and bar will be on the ground floor, while a prep area, further seating and customer toilets will be on the floor above. There will also be a two-storey extension to the rear of the properties.
Permission for the scheme was previously granted two years ago, yet needed to be reassessed following concerns regarding the position of a sewer.
A revised application was therefore submitted in March this year, and approved by officers last week.
Meanwhile, the plans for A La Turka have been resubmitted after the proposals for the site were skewered by the council earlier this year when they were rejected.
Owner Mehmet Dari is however confident he can open the restaurant by Christmas.
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