The owner and chef of a new family-run restaurant says he wants to bring the taste of the Mediterranean to Kent.

Rwand Khadir has moved from London to launch his second branch, called Yada’s, in Church Street, Chatham.

“My mum, Bahar, used to call me Yada as a nickname when I was younger,” he explained.

“That’s where it came from. We moved from Iran to the UK in 1996.

“It was amazing growing up there, but I moved when I was young – I was only around six or seven years old.

“All my family is here now, but my mum still cooks traditional Mediterranean food at home.”

The 37-year-old has been a chef for the past 15 years.

He had previously studied hairdressing but says he always had a passion for food since he was a little boy.

Rwand had been working alongside his cousin and in 2015 they opened the original Yada’s in Peckham, London.

It has been described by Time Out as an “excellent, ramshackle little Kurdish joint down a grimy, cobbley back street opposite Peckham Rye station” and said the dishes were “plentiful and good”.

Now the chef has decided to venture out and try running his own branch after recently moving to Kent.

He said: “I cook a range of dishes that come from all of the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.

“These include Persian, Moroccan, Arabic and Turkish. I also like Israeli food a lot.

“Being able to work for myself, I am able to create my own dishes.

“For example, I have pistachio hummus – which isn’t something we have specifically in our culture, but it is inspired by the other countries nearby.”

The building was once home to a social club and had since been left vacant.

Rwand spent two months renovating and decorating – giving the unit a £60,000 makeover.

He has added wooden and stone walls, colourful ceramic tiles as well as decorative shisha pipes.

It was inspired by the textures and environment back in his homeland.

The restaurant seats around 80 people and has both upstairs, downstairs and outside seating.

Rwand aims to tweak the menu depending on what is popular and following feedback from his customers.

Yada’s had a soft launch last week and is currently open from 5pm to 11pm.

“To be honest, I have been more excited than ever,” he added. “People have been coming in and loving the food – and they have come back!”

They currently have three members of staff but hope to hire more.

One of them is new 19-year-old waitress, Sarah Bell, from Gillingham.

She said: “It’s a really nice environment and you can see that everyone in the area knows each other well.

“His dishes are amazing. I am Moroccan myself and you can tell it is authentic.

“Mediterranean food has a lot of strong and vibrant flavours and spices. We also like to combine sweet and savoury together.

“Once you try it you won’t go back to anything else.”

From next Wednesday (June 26), the restaurant will be open from 12pm to 11pm once a new chef is on board.