Latest news with #Parla
NZ Herald
19-07-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Wellington restauranteur Dean White on expanding his empire amid sector struggles
'People absolutely do love Kisa and so it was like, 'ok, I think we're on to something here'', he said. Parla sits on the former site of a dairy in Island Bay. Photo / Mark Mitchell. 'We do really well in town, but just wanted a change of scene and definitely saw that suburban sites were popular and well frequented and supported as well.' It is a vote of confidence in the capital's hospitality sector which has been battered by repeated announcements of closures over recent years, made worse by the rise of working from home, public sector cuts, and inner city construction resulting in reduced foot traffic in Wellington's CBD in the past year. Parla is 34-year-old White's fourth restaurant in nine years, with his hospitality company Mosaic Venues growing to a team of 127 staff. 'We're happy, really happy with how last week went' he said. Similar to Kisa, Parla's menu brings a Middle Eastern offering rooted in Turkish cuisine. Its name comes from the Turkish word meaning to shine or gleam. 'We sort of tried to reflect that', White says of the venue's fit-out. 'It has quite peachy yellowy toned walls just to try and capture that sort of like warmth and energy.' Parla represents a new step for White, not only for its suburban position but also being the first of his venues to be open for breakfast, serving up Middle Eastern inspired eggs on toast and granola. Dean White's new restaurant Parla in Island Bay is the first he's opened outside the CBD. Photo / Mark Mitchell. 'The core lunch trade in the city, that sort of midday to 2 pm with people going out for lunch is definitely where we've felt economic conditions hurt us the most', he said. 'What we'd found is that more people would go looking for a more of a brunch time offering.' Despite the industry's doom and gloom, White's optimistic for the sector. He believes Wellington is starting to feel 'brighter' and is 'having our moment of suburban dining', which he says the city hasn't experienced before compared to the likes of Auckland or Melbourne. 'There is a bit of a reluctance to go into town at the moment, maybe that's a bit of a loss of pride on what things look like and in the state of it. 'Civic Square is going through huge construction and there's not a whole lot to do and see around there, you've got Courtenay Place which has its challenges, so people kind of like to be out of the city and doing different things.' Asked why he wanted to take the leap opening a new venue at a time the hospitality scene has been plagued by closures, White laughs. 'I've been asked that question at every single new restaurant I've opened over nine years. 'It is probably at its lowest point now, but hospitality is, and I think always will be, a pretty tough industry.' He said the motivation to expand comes from having confidence in their offering. He said Middle Eastern cuisine is 'definitely of people's interest at the moment', partially thanks to online food trends. Dean White's restaurant Kisa on Cuba St serves up modern Middle Eastern cuisine and is said to be booked out weeks in advance. Photo / WellingtonNZ Post-covid, White believes customers tastes and awareness of ingredients has increased 'hugely'. 'I think a lot of that comes from cooking more at home during Covid and there was a sort of rise of online stuff, even chat GPT helping people make recipes', he said. 'We have a really good team and I do have an interest to add to the city and keep creating opportunities for employment and a new place for myself and guests to go.' Despite his drive, White said there is 'no doubt' there have been challenges, but blames a range of factors rather than one single issue. 'There's just less people around' he said, pointing to job cuts across Wellington's public and private sectors, and 'essential city infrastructure projects'. The bigger challenge White believes is unpredictability of customers behaviour. 'It used to be if Thursday was busy, Sunday was busy. If Monday, Tuesday were quiet, Friday and Saturday would be really busy. There used to be these rules of thumb, there's just none of those anymore. 'When we're busy, we're ultra busy, and when it's quiet it's very quiet. 'It's just lots of kind of two or three percent factors, construction disruptions, you add all of these things up that might have a one to three percent impact on your trade and it only takes there to be 10 of them for it to really start impacting us.' He said since opening last week, the latest addition to his hospitality empire is showing signs of promise. 'It's been fantastic, we're really pleased and there's good forward bookings - long may it continue.' Ethan Manera is a New Zealand Herald journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 as a broadcast journalist with Newstalk ZB and is interested in local issues, politics, and property in the capital. Ethan can be emailed at
Boston Globe
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Inside the Globe's new Best of the Best list
Write to us at . To subscribe, . TODAY'S STARTING POINT Confession: I'm pretty bad at shopping for clothes. I have little sense of style (something dedicated Starting Point readers might remember from But there's something about thrifting that I love. It might be the thrill of discovery. It might be the experience reminds me of a more analog era, before much of our shopping (indeed, much of our experience of the world) happened via online ads, influencer content, and other things pushed to our devices. It might be that rifling through trendy secondhand T-shirts can make even a stodgy fashion criminal like me feel cool, at least for a few minutes. And of course I appreciate the prices, too. So over the weekend I popped into Advertisement Thrift stores are one of seven new categories in the Globe's current Best of the Best list, supplementing the cheap eats, bookstores, and other categories that appeared in Advertisement Below you'll find a teaser from the six other new categories in this year's list, spanning record stores to doughnuts. If you like what you see, explore Best sandwiches Sandwiches from All Star Sandwich Bar in Cambridge Handout All-Star Sandwich Bar: With its retro vibe and menu of outrageous comfort food, this Inman Square staple exudes devil-may-care largesse. Try a grilled meatloaf sandwich blanketed in melted Jack cheese on sourdough or a sinfully thick grilled cheese on white, further corrupted by béchamel sauce. 1245 Cambridge Street, Cambridge. Bakeries Colette Bakery: Expanded from Medford to Melrose and now the South End, this French bakery practices culinary diplomacy wherever it goes. This is thanks to eggy, burnt sugar-y canelés, perfectly buttery croissants, and baguettes to carry home like a real French person. 517 Columbus Avenue, South End. Advertisement Doughnuts Mass Hole Donuts' Pink Papi doughnut hole has lemon poppy with pink lemonade glaze and crunchy white chocolate and strawberry sprinkles. Dan Parcell Mass Hole Donuts: A cheeky riff on the unofficial Massachusetts state dessert, these cleverly composed doughnut holes are orb-only fever dreams with more ingredients than Market Basket, with varieties including crushed potato chips, candied lemons, churro chunks — why not? 1157 Broadway, Somerville. Cocktail bars Parla: With its dark, wood paneled walls and cozy footprint, entering Parla feels a little like stepping inside an old fashioned: Like the drink, it packs a punch. 230 Hanover Street, North End. Record stores Village Vinyl & Hi Fi: This Coolidge Corner spot is the place to find that record you never knew you needed until you got there. Congolese jazz? A Disney animated movie soundtrack? A throwback compilation of Soul Train hits? Check. Check. Check. 307 Harvard Street, Brookline. Neighborhood restaurants Delux Cafe in the South End Mona Miri for the Boston Globe Delux Cafe: In this kitschy, kaleidoscopic jewel box of a bar, '50s and '60s paraphernalia adorn the walls and a jukebox emits a soft glow from the corner. But for a restaurant that resembles an Elvis impersonator's fever dream (in a good way), the food is shockingly great. 100 Chandler Street, South End. 🧩 2 Down: 75° POINTS OF INTEREST Fishing boats tied up at New Bedford's State Pier. The industry relies on immigrant labor. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff/David L Ryan, Globe Staff Phones away: Massachusetts lawmakers advanced a bill that would ban students in the state from White Stadium renovation: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu acknowledged that the cost of the project will likely exceed $91 million, citing higher prices of materials. The price tag Advertisement Karen Read: Read's lead defense attorney said that his firm In mourning: Samantha, a 24-year-old zebra at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, died after she AI imposter: Someone pretending to be Secretary of State Marco Rubio contacted foreign ministers, a governor, and a member of Congress using artificial intelligence to mimic Rubio's voice and writing style. ( Russia-Ukraine war: President Trump criticized Vladimir Putin and pledged more weapons to Ukraine, reversing a pause on US ammunition shipments. Trump said he didn't know who in his administration had ordered the pause. ( Local impacts: Baystate Health, Western Massachusetts' largest health care system, is already struggling financially and estimates the cuts to Medicaid in Trump's tax law Wear away: TSA will no longer require travelers to take off their shoes during airport security screenings. ( Labor deal: The NHL and NHL Players' Association formally extended their collective bargaining agreement through 2030. ( Shipping attacks: Yemen's Houthi rebels are renewing their attacks on ships in the Red Sea. After sinking a Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned cargo vessel on Sunday, the rebels targeted another yesterday, killing three people. ( Advertisement BESIDE THE POINT ❤️ Love Letters: She loves her boyfriend but 🇮🇹 Holy sightsee: Check out the hilltop Italian town where Pope Leo XIV is staying cool this summer. ( 🧑🍳 Cooking for one? Despite Costco's reputation for bulk, you can still save money there as a single shopper. 💀 Body politic: Philadelphia's Mütter Museum houses preserved human fetuses, skulls, and other unusual bodily artifacts. Now its new management is navigating an ethical and political minefield. 🎙️ A very Boston episode: 'The Bear' actress Ayo Edebiri 👪 Family dynamics: TikTok is abuzz about how being a 'living room family' (where everyone hung out together) versus a 'bedroom family' (where kids spent time in their bedrooms) can influence children's behavior. Which was yours? ( 🎵 Live Aid: From Queen to Bowie, Globe reporter Mark Shanahan revisits Thanks for reading Starting Point. This newsletter was edited by ❓ Have a question for the team? Email us at ✍🏼 If someone sent you this newsletter, you can 📬 Delivered Monday through Friday. Ian Prasad Philbrick can be reached at
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NEQSOL Holding Announces Second Phase of Women Leadership Development Program
AMSTERDAM, March 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NEQSOL Holding, an international group of companies serving over 25 million customers in 11 countries, has said there will be a continuation of its leadership and development program for female university students in Azerbaijan, in cooperation with the Education Development Fund of Azerbaijan. The program has been named 'Parla,' which means shine in Azerbaijani. This academic year, a new group of 50 female students has been selected, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 100. While the program was initiated in Azerbaijan as a pilot, it is currently being evaluated for roll-out in global markets. The latest group of 50 Parla scholarship recipients was chosen from a competitive pool of 791 applicants, an increase from last year's 674. A shortlist of 120 candidates underwent interviews before the final selection. As in the previous year, selection criteria were based on academic success and the socio-economic status of candidates. The beneficiaries will receive monthly financial assistance until their graduation and have access to a range of opportunities provided by NEQSOL Holding, including English language classes, IELTS preparation and exam, internships, mentorship, masterclasses, and access to online programs from top global universities and LinkedIn Learning tools through NEQSOL Academy. 'Education and human capital development are key priority areas of our corporate social responsibility strategy at NEQSOL Holding. Through the Parla program, we empower young talents with new knowledge, skills, and opportunities. Investing in education drives sustainable development, fosters innovation and builds a more inclusive society,' said Yusif Jabbarov, Chairman and CEO of NEQSOL Holding. 'The Parla program is a testament to what can be achieved through strong collaboration between the private and public sectors. It enhances the educational journey of female students by equipping them with new skills and the confidence to succeed in the professional world,' said Elnur Nasibov, Chairman of the Board of the Education Development Fund. 'We believe in the power of education to transform lives and create impact. The Parla program is about empowering female students to reach their full potential. Our goal is to see them shine, lead, and inspire others. We remain committed to investing in education and inclusion, contributing to a brighter future for society as a whole,' said Imran Ahmadzada, Head of NEQSOL Holding Azerbaijan. NEQSOL Holding reaffirms its commitment to continuing and expanding the Parla program, recognizing its importance in supporting talented female students. About NEQSOL HoldingNEQSOL Holding is an international group of companies operating across 11 countries in telecommunications, energy, construction, and hi-tech industries. The holding places significant emphasis on expanding its presence in Azerbaijan and, as it continues to grow, remains dedicated to contributing to the country's economic and social development. For more information please see: NEQSOL Holding and NEQSOL Academy. Media contact: Neqsol@ in to access your portfolio
