A new lunch restaurant will open in the Merituuli office building in Mussalo in January 26th. The new entrepreneurs Jesse Penttilä and Erkan Öncü are already familiar to many from other restaurants in the Kotka region.
Jesse, who has the training of a ship’s cook, started his career on passenger ships. His work on passenger ships ended with the covid pandemic and he moved on to work at lunch restaurant Potukka in Kotka, which was founded by his mother and aunt and which he later took over himself. Erkan Öncü is a third-generation restaurateur who has been involved in the restaurant business since childhood. He has had training in the hotel and restaurant industry and has worked in places such as the restaurant of a five-star hotel. He came to Finland from Turkey in 1993 and first worked in another field, but at the same time dreamed of his own restaurant. The dream came true in 1998, when Erkan founded a kebab pizzeria that has since become widely known. After meeting his current wife 13 years ago, Erkan’s life moved mainly to Espoo, where he now runs a restaurant with Jesse.
Continuous improvement as a way of life
The paths of the two men crossed a few years ago, and they immediately found common ground. They found that they share the same passion for developing things and creating something new. Erkan’s solid experience combined with Jesse’s young energy has produced good results and the pace has accelerated further. Constant movement and a desire to improve things is a way of life for both, so opening a new lunch restaurant is a natural continuation of co-operation. The entrepreneurs see a lot of potential in opening a lunch restaurant in the Merituuli building in Mussalo, as the port area is expected to become more lively when the economy picks up again. The restaurant is scheduled to open in January as soon as the necessary renovation and alteration work has been completed.
“The previous entrepreneurs have built a solid foundation for the restaurant business, and it is good to start building on it. We believe that our concept works well here – it is modern but at the same time respects the old,” says Erkan.
The entrepreneurs have divided the responsibilities so that Jesse is more present in the restaurants, and Erkan takes care of contractual matters, among other things, in the background. Both will initially work in the new restaurant on site as much as possible.
“A face is important to a company. We want to get to know the customers so that they have the lowest possible threshold to come and talk and give us feedback,” Jesse says.
Something for everyone
The different preferences of customers will be taken into account in the lunch menu.
“Our goal is to offer food where everyone can find an option they like. Those who do heavy physical work and lighter office work want to eat different types of food.We are also planning theme lunches,” Jesse says. The restaurant facilities will be modified to support the restaurant’s concept.
“We are going to focus on the salad selection and give customers the opportunity to taste different flavours, and if it works, we will continue with it. We are happy to receive feedback and develop our operations by listening to the wishes of our customers,” Erkan adds.
The entrepreneurs welcome both new and old customers.
“The customers will not be disappointed, they will be pleasantly surprised,” Erkan says.
