Hassan Atarmal + Jeni Betts

The restaurant came
before the advice.

Recipe to Restaurant grew out of Fresh Mediterranean Express—a culturally rooted restaurant where family recipes had to become clear to customers, consistent for a team, and sustainable as a business.

Hassan Atarmal

Food, culture, instinct, and operations.

Hassan is a restaurant owner, operator, consultant, and speaker. His perspective comes from turning culturally rooted recipes into food a real kitchen can execute through prep, service, growth, and change.

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Jeni Betts

Customer insight, questions, and business clarity.

Jeni brings the customer lens and the business-development discipline: asking what people understand, what they value, where the experience breaks down, and what needs to change for the model to work.

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Why this work

The problem is rarely just the recipe.

A dish can be delicious and still be difficult to explain, price, portion, train, source, or serve during a rush.

We learned to separate the parts that carry cultural identity from the parts that can adapt for the customer and the operation. We also learned that a founder cannot be the only recipe book, quality check, trainer, and problem solver in the building.

That is the work we now share: protect the soul, meet the market, and build the system.

The early years

Before the playbook, there was the work.

The first restaurant was the testing ground: a small dining room, long hours behind the grill, catering tables, community events, early recognition, and a team learning how to make the experience repeatable.

Hassan Atarmal inside the original Fresh Mediterranean Express during construction — Before opening day — Hassan inside the restaurant buildout

The original Fresh Mediterranean Express service counter during construction — Building the counter where the first customers would order

Hassan Atarmal painting the original Fresh Mediterranean Express dining room — Literally hands-on — Hassan painting the first restaurant

The original Fresh Mediterranean Express dining room — The original dining room — before the systems and second location

Hassan Atarmal with an early Fresh Mediterranean Express kitchen team member — Opening-era kitchen team — ready to turn the concept into service

Hassan Atarmal cooking on the flat-top grill in the original restaurant kitchen — Hassan behind the line — where the recipes met service

Hassan Atarmal and Jeni Betts working a catered event in the early years — Building it together — food, guests, and every detail between

Guests seated outside the original Fresh Mediterranean Express storefront — The original storefront becoming a neighborhood gathering place

Hassan Atarmal representing Fresh Mediterranean Express at a community event — Taking the restaurant story out into the community

Fresh Mediterranean Express team members celebrating the restaurant's first anniversary — One year in — the business was already becoming bigger than its founders

Hassan Atarmal and Jeni Betts with fellow honorees at a Dream Big business growth event — Dream Big recognition — the early work beginning to earn notice

Hassan Atarmal and Jeni Betts receiving a Dream Big business award — Receiving the Dream Big award together

Hassan Atarmal featured on the cover of Food and Beverage Iowa Business Quarterly — Early recognition from Iowa's restaurant community

In the community

A real business, built in public.

From chambers and business summits to catering lines and busy dining rooms, the lessons behind Recipe to Restaurant were learned where customers, employees, and economics all meet.

Hassan and Jeni at a Waukee Area Chamber of Commerce event — Hassan + Jeni in the business community

Hassan and Jeni participating in a business summit program — Sharing the operator story

Start with the food. Look at the whole business.

Bring us the question you cannot untangle.

See how we think →

The restaurant camebefore the advice.