Le Kesh boss speaks of trials and triumphs running Cowley Road restaurant

Born and raised in the city, Mr Leonard went to Oxford Boys School then to university.

Before becoming the director of Le Kesh, he was – and still is – a professional DJ.

It was only when the country was hit by the 2008 recession that he and a friend decided to get into the hospitality industry.

He said: “After the recession there was a lot of opportunities in hospitality. We did a renovation job on a house to create more cash flow and in 2011 we got offered the opportunity to take over the restaurant which was at the time called Cafe Nour.”

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The restaurant served solely Lebanese cuisine but Mr Leonard had a vision.

He said: “We had our reservations and didn’t know about the cuisine at the time. There was a really skilled chef who used to work in a restaurant in town and he heard about us and contacted us.

“With his help we slowly moved on to what we wanted to do which was Moroccan-fusion cuisine and decided to keep just some of the original Lebanese dishes.

“The process has been very lengthy, and we had no experience but there was a lot for us to do. We had to learn a lot."

Le Kesh, which is short for Marrakech, the capital of Morocco, in French, is now the only Moroccan-fusion restaurant in Oxford. Its bright interiors present a Moroccan and Arabic feel and it serves authentic dishes from meat tagines and bastillas, moussakas and briwates.

Mr Leonard said: “We came up with the concept to bridge North Africa to the Middle East and explore all the flavours along the way. We have an outside tent and use Moroccan cooking methods and we eventually hired a Moroccan chef who has been with us ever since.

"It’s very poplar and there are vegan and vegetarian options too.”

Cowley Road is home to more than 30 restaurants of all different types of cuisines including Caribbean, Chinese, Spanish, Indian and Italian.

Trade has been more difficult now than ever as the times change, but despite this Le Kesh has managed to stay open.

The director said: “After the Brexit referendum in 2016, some staff left the restaurant. Once Westgate was built in 2017, there was a shift in the number of customers and with online shopping there are less customer walk-ins than before.

“Delivery apps have also affected us as people are spending more time at home eating as opposed to coming out to the restaurant.

“Landlords increasing charges also presents difficulties. The number of restaurants that have opened and closed on Cowley Road is staggering.”

But one event that the restaurant always looks forward to each year is the Cowley Road Carnival.

Mr Leonard said: “The carnival’s great. We have a stall at the front of the restaurant where we do wraps and street food. The restaurant isn’t open for the carnival, but we have our own private party in the garden where I DJ until 10pm.”

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Three burglaries took place at Le Kesh in the first three months that it opened, where thieves stole bottles of wine.

It was burgled again last year.

Mr Leonard said: “When we first opened, we had many burglaries. They kept taking a couple bottles of wine so it wasn’t too bad.

"We were more annoyed at the fact that we had to keep replacing the door which was costing us more and we even thought about leaving wine at the back just so they wouldn’t keep breaking the door.”

“Last year we were burgled and this time they stole a lot more. Our neighbour caught him on their CCTV but police let him go because there wasn’t enough evidence.

"We now have cameras all over the restaurant.”

After working hard to make sure its standards were up to scratch, Le Kesh finally received its first five-star hygiene rating last month.

Mr Leonard is pleased especially as it has come a long way since it first opened when he first took over the site.

He said: "It’s great to have five stars on our eighth birthday. We've been rated four-stars for years and it’s taken many years of hard work to get to where we are which also includes being one of the top 23 restaurants in Oxford on Trip Advisor.

"The site that we took over was in a very bad state. We completely gutted out the restaurant and started from scratch. It's taken a lot of hard work."

Oxford City Council has helped the team to make the necessary changes and improvements needed to get them from a four-star rating to five-stars and the restaurant hopes to now maintain its top score.

Mr Leonard said: "We had to work on a lot of little things to do with hygiene and safety of staff. It's important to have everything in place, from bar checks to constant cleaning, we have to really stay on top as much as we can."

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Having a good working environment is an important part of his business.

He said: “The staff are happy here, we have a good working environment, it’s a stressful environment sometimes but we keep a very positive attitude. We laugh with staff and joke about little things – it’s nice.

“At the same time it’s difficult but we have a good thing going. People enjoy working here. We are serious when we need to be.

“The head chef is wonderful and he always has a laugh with the floor staff. They care about it as if it’s their own restaurant. It’s difficult to find people who actually care.”

Le Kesh has a four-and-a-half star rating on TripAdvisor with reviews saying the food is 'delicious', staff are 'attentive and friendly' and the restaurant has an 'authentic Moroccan feel'.

The restaurant has also received a 'Certificate of Excellence' from the reviews site and is listed as the second best Lebanese restaurant in Oxford.

Asked what Mr Leonard loves the most about running the restaurant, he said: “I think when I see people enjoying the food - even when it's very busy at times - and I see everyone smiling, it’s a nice thing to see. It’s not just about the money.”