Founder of Akbar restaurant group, Shabir “Bash” Hussain (56), has died. He had announced that he was suffering from cancer last year. Hussain, who is credited with the invention of the ‘naan tree’, opened the first Akbar’s restaurant in 1995 with just 28 covers in Bradford, grew it into a ten-strong business, with locations across the North of England, the Midlands and Scotland, including Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham and Glasgow. His most recent opening. in Blaclburn, was in February this year.
The son of a textile worker, Shabir was born in Pakistan and settled in Yorkshire with his family aged seven. He worked in several restaurants as a waiter, manager and chef before setting up on his own.
His naan tree, hanging a large naan bread hangs on a vertical metal stand, allowing him to have smaller restauarant tables and increase his number of restaurant covers.
Author: George Shaw
Former BBC journalist and founder and CEO of an award-winning London advertising and PR company for 20 years, providing restaurant consultancy services. Spent a decade as the director of communications of the Asian Catering Federation in the UK and lead judge for its various restaurant and chef awards programmes. Now returned to journalism, specialising in food and travel and currently the Editor-in-Chief for Taste London, Taste Asia, the Good Curry Guide and CEO of International Culinary Guides.