Abdul Rauf has seen a lot of changes in the 20 years that he has been working at Kashmir, an Indian restaurant at the end of Albion Street, in Cheltenham.
Not only has the city centre itself changed, with new offices in the immediate area bringing new customers to his business, but over time his clientele and their appreciation of Indian food has changed, too.
Kashmir has actually been open since 1990, when Abdul's brother-in-law opened the restaurant, based on the family's Bangladeshi heritage.
Today, it still provides dishes from Bangladesh and India, with a staff including Abdul and his two brothers working on service and their three uncles, working as chefs down in the kitchen.
It has recently undergone a major facelift - with a new function room downstairs which can seat up to 35, a complete reworking of the interior and a stylish new shop front which welcomes visitors and attracts passers-by.
And the restaurant retains a loyal following, returning customers who appreciate good food which avoids those stereotypical dishes you associate with the least authentic versions of Indian cuisine.
In any case, Abdul's feeling is that the British culinary scene has moved on to such an extent that people are much more educated in Indian food these days.
"People aren't eating kormas, tikka masala and dishes like that any more," he says. "They know what they want and if they don't they are prepared to ask us to cook something authentic like what we have at home, as long as it matches their tastes.
"Or they might have heard of something and come in to ask us if we can cook it, which we invariably can."
So why the change? "Since I have been here," says Abdul, "people have stopped coming in so much after a drink when the pubs shut - now they tend to come between 7pm and 9pm, before they go out.
"We don't just cater for one age group any more and it's certainly not just big parties of men. We have a wine list which is really popular with our female diners and because people are much more health conscious we cook with corn or vegetable oil rather than ghee."
And so Abdul is confident that the new re-fit at Kashmir heralds and exciting new era for his business, attracting new customers and retaining existing ones.
"People have been coming here since the restaurant opened," he says. "We still get the same faces and we see them week-in, week-out.
"Before we did the re-fit we spoke to our customers about what they wanted - they said that a lot of curry houses have gone to clinical, missing the diners' booths, the flowers on the wallpaper, and things like that.
"So we have tried to keep it traditional while being modern as well."
Find our more about Kashmir in our business directory listing here http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/restaurants/indian/kashmir-restaurant/business-8490533-detail/business.html
Not only has the city centre itself changed, with new offices in the immediate area bringing new customers to his business, but over time his clientele and their appreciation of Indian food has changed, too.
Kashmir has actually been open since 1990, when Abdul's brother-in-law opened the restaurant, based on the family's Bangladeshi heritage.
Today, it still provides dishes from Bangladesh and India, with a staff including Abdul and his two brothers working on service and their three uncles, working as chefs down in the kitchen.
It has recently undergone a major facelift - with a new function room downstairs which can seat up to 35, a complete reworking of the interior and a stylish new shop front which welcomes visitors and attracts passers-by.
And the restaurant retains a loyal following, returning customers who appreciate good food which avoids those stereotypical dishes you associate with the least authentic versions of Indian cuisine.
In any case, Abdul's feeling is that the British culinary scene has moved on to such an extent that people are much more educated in Indian food these days.
"People aren't eating kormas, tikka masala and dishes like that any more," he says. "They know what they want and if they don't they are prepared to ask us to cook something authentic like what we have at home, as long as it matches their tastes.
"Or they might have heard of something and come in to ask us if we can cook it, which we invariably can."
So why the change? "Since I have been here," says Abdul, "people have stopped coming in so much after a drink when the pubs shut - now they tend to come between 7pm and 9pm, before they go out.
"We don't just cater for one age group any more and it's certainly not just big parties of men. We have a wine list which is really popular with our female diners and because people are much more health conscious we cook with corn or vegetable oil rather than ghee."
And so Abdul is confident that the new re-fit at Kashmir heralds and exciting new era for his business, attracting new customers and retaining existing ones.
"People have been coming here since the restaurant opened," he says. "We still get the same faces and we see them week-in, week-out.
"Before we did the re-fit we spoke to our customers about what they wanted - they said that a lot of curry houses have gone to clinical, missing the diners' booths, the flowers on the wallpaper, and things like that.
"So we have tried to keep it traditional while being modern as well."
Find our more about Kashmir in our business directory listing here http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/restaurants/indian/kashmir-restaurant/business-8490533-detail/business.html
