Nadeem Turkia was born in Jordan to a Jordanian mother and a Syrian father and immigrated to Australia as a refugee in 2016.

“I got my first job not because I wanted to save money for my holidays, it was all because we want to eat,”

“So the first time I stepped into the restaurant I was amazed, so I was like I will keep working hard until one day I own my restaurant that was always my dream.”

Nadeem holidayed in Geraldton with a friend he met in Darwin, and was offered a loan by some locals who tasted his home-cooked meals and from then Laian was born.

Press PLAY to hear Nadeem’s amazing backstory

Adam Liaw, Cook, food writer and former MasterChef winner spoke to Julie-anne Sprague about his relationship with Nadeem.

“It’s a terrific story for a terrific guy,” he said.

“Nadeem has this kind of infectious way of bringing people in and taking people along…He has this enthusiasm which is really quite rare.”

Nadeem’s restaurant Laian can be found in Geraldton serving traditional Middle East flavours with a twist.