Meet the man known as the King of hospitality

EDMOND DAVARI MARKS 40 EARS AS A RESTAURATEUR

- WILLIAM TELFORD

HE’S one of Plymouth’s most wellknown and colourful restaurateurs and Edmond Davari is marking 40 years of keeping the city well fed and happy with his latest business – Souk – riding high on Tripadvisor.

The 67-year-old has run more than 20 Plymouth eateries, and some in Exeter too, since arriving in the city fresh faced and full of beans to oversee the Theatre Royal’s restaurant in 1984.

It’s been a career that has seen Edmond introduce Plymouth to the delights of Spanish, Mexican, Japanese and Moroccan cuisine. He’s also had a laugh or two. Edmond’s sense of fun has seen him create some of the city’s most outrageous promotions, and ruffle a feather or two. He’s won awards and become a local celebrity.

He’s also fallen victim to economic hard times too, but bounced back with a smile on his face and a dish in his hand. And now his latest offering, Souk, in Plymouth Market, is, at the time of writing, sitting pretty at number one on Tripadvisor, with 171 five-star reviews.

But it all started by accident. With a degree in computer programming and business he said he got into catering “by default”.

“When I was a student I was flipping burgers in an Oxford nightclub to pay for my education,’ Edmond said. “I went for a washing-up job that paid 5p more: £1.20 an hour. When I went in for a second interview they said they wanted to sack the general manager and replace him and asked if I wanted to do it.”

He did, and after leaving that company he joined one that ran international hotels, followed by a stint working in theatres... which brought him to Theatre Royal Plymouth. “I did that for five years, then opened Sardis, which later became Lorenzos,” he said, explaining that in 1989 a French brasserie was something very new for Plymouth. “People came in looking to buy brassieres!”he said.