THE owner of a stylish Indian restaurant in Great Malvern, who started his career in catering as a teenager washing pots in the kitchens of establishments all over the country, is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

Kaiser Kazi, who came to England from Bangladesh in the early 1970s, always wanted to run a restaurant and worked his way up from the bottom to become the driving force behind Anupam in Church Street, which he set up after running Palash Tandoori in Malvern Link for six year.

To mark three decades in the centre of Great Malvern, the restaurant is staging live music sessions including jazz bands, sitar and tabla performances over the coming months.

Kaiser said: “It was always my dream to run a restaurant but I worked my way up from the bottom. I started washing pots in Indian restaurants all over the country but was eventually helped by a friend to become a waiter at the age of 17.

“I wanted to learn English and knew this was the way to do it. Through hard work and persistence, I found my own way up.”

His first restaurant was Palash Tandoori and when he moved to set up Anupam, the chef Moti, with whom he had forged a close partnership, moved with him. This helped him establish an enviable reputation and the restaurant attracted both local customers and well-known names from the theatre world like Sir Ian McKellen, Dame Helen Mirren and Charlton Heston when they were performing in Malvern.

“It all starts with the chef as they are the ones who create the dishes and the flavours. Each chef we have had has been encouraged to add their own dishes to the menu,” said Kaiser.

“Our first chef, who sadly passed away, created Duck Moti Bahar and it is still on the menu today. We must never change the past. Our latest chef, Narayan, who has been with us for 13 years and head chef for 11, creates three or four new dishes every month or so, which have proven to be very popular as specials. We can always add more, but must not lose that link to the past.”

He added: “We have only had three chefs in 30 years and all have overlapped, as the assistant chef has learnt from the head chef and then taken over from him.

“Our first chef noticed the talent of one of our newcomers in the kitchen and on his advice, I let him train Jamal up. He became our second chef and Narayan is our third.

“The only difference with Narayan is that he was one of the first professionally trained chefs, rather than self-taught, and recruited from one of the top international hotels in Dubai, but even he served his time as an assistant before taking over.”

Kaiser believes this system of promotion is responsible for the Anupam’s success. “It is important for consistency and for understanding the philosophy of the restaurant.”

Anupam is a family-run business and Kaiser’s two sons Maher and Nabil have both worked as part-time waiters since the age of 16 and more recently Maher has managed the restaurant and helped with marketing.

Kaiser’s wife Zakia has also helped create new dishes and spice blends and been involved in the quality control aspect of the business. His daughter Urmi, a lawyer, helps with business administration.

“The lifestyle has been difficult at times, especially in the early days, but the support has always been there,” he said.

And with 30 years at the Anupam under his belt, Kaiser has clear aspirations for the future. “Hopefully another 30 years in business,” he said.