West End locals embrace award-winning Mu’ooz Restaurant
The fare is fantastic at Mu’ooz Restaurant but that’s not the only reason it’s winning awards.
Mu’ooz is a not-for-profit social enterprise offering hospitality training, experience and employment opportunities for women from refugee and migrant backgrounds.
Founded by the Eritrean Australian Women & Family Support Network Inc in Moorooka in 2003, the restaurant specialising in North African cuisine recently moved to inner-city West End and has been overwhelmed by the response.
Mu’ooz Restaurant won the 2013 Queensland Multicultural enterprise award and was named best
speciality restaurant in the 2013 Savour Australia Restaurant & Catering Awards (Queensland). It earnt a Five-Star Eat Safe rating from Brisbane City Council.
“We did well at Moorooka and it was a good community, but this is a social enterprise with big aims and to meet the need we need to be busy day and night,’’ director Saba Abraham, who has lived in Australia for more than 20 years, says.
“We have learnt location is the key to business. We had 24 people in here on a Tuesday night and all but four were walk-ins, whereas we’d be lucky to have two customers in Moorooka.’’
Mu’ooz, which means “tasty and healthy” in Tigrinya, the language of Eritrea and parts of Ethiopia, is open six days a week and employs 16 women at the moment, with another 68 on a waiting list. The women are from Sierra Leone, Congo, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Fiji.
Abraham says that in the past five years, more than 80 women have worked in the restaurant and 97 per cent have gone on to secure further employment. They also host three trainees from Sunnybank High School and have just offered their eighth internship through Griffith University.
Abraham says more than just providing employment skills, the experience helps women improve their English, learn about Australian culture, form social and community groups and help support their families.
Abraham has big plans for the Mollison Road site, repainted and decorated to resemble an Eritrean house, including regular African music nights, cooking courses and a program to feed homeless residents.
Abraham, a founding member of the Queensland African Communities Council and a Pride of Australia medal winner, says she one day hopes to have a chain of Mu’ooz restaurants operating nationally.
“It’s a very exciting time and we’ve generated a lot of interest. The local community has been really welcoming and supportive.’’
Source: couriermail.com.au - 14 February 2014
