'We’ve got a lot to give back to this community': Leeds supermarket boss launches ambitious new café

A British-Asian supermarket boss who grew up in Harehills is betting on brunch to help revive Roundhay Road, bringing Dubai-inspired café culture, Desi breakfasts and in-house gelato to the area through his new venture, Aura.

Situated where Easterly Road meets Roundhay Road, the café opened two weeks ago in one of the most prominent buildings on the stretch - a corner site founder Sajid Hussein describes as “the crown” of the area.

“We wanted a place where families, professionals, students and friends could meet in a welcoming environment - a destination café, not just somewhere to grab a coffee,” Hussein, who also runs the Abu Bakr supermarket chain in Leeds, told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Atmosphere is central to Aura, with Hussein saying the café was designed as a place where people can slow down and relax.

“We’ve heavily invested in every detail,” he said. “Nowadays people are very busy and don’t have places where they can just wind down, have a nice coffee and not feel rushed. That’s the kind of atmosphere we were trying to create.”

The idea was inspired by Dubai’s thriving brunch scene, where Hussein says café culture has become part of everyday life.

“Dubai is a destination where a lot of people go every year, and the coffee shops and brunch culture are huge there,” he said. “So we thought we’d bring that culture over to the UK.”

While Aura takes inspiration from Dubai and high-end areas of London - some customers have compared it to Mayfair - Hussein says it remains rooted in the community where he grew up.

“Because of being brought up in this area, I’ve had a very humble upbringing,” he said. “We’ve got a lot to give back to this community. We prospered in the area.”

He remembers a busier Roundhay Road, lined with banks and well-known high street names, and hopes Aura can help attract a new generation of businesses.

“This area was very buzzy,” he said. “When all these banks and businesses moved away, Roundhay Road dipped. We want Roundhay Road to have new kinds of brands.”

Location was a major factor in choosing the site. Positioned at a busy junction where several roads meet, the building offers maximum visibility.

“In any business, it’s location, location, location,” Hussein said. “On Roundhay Road, this is the crown because it’s got three or four different roads coming together.”

That experience begins before customers even step inside. A late decision to add decking created an outdoor seating area that has already proved popular during sunny weather.

Inside, Aura serves all-day brunch from 9am until 4pm, led by what Hussein describes as a “very, very popular” Desi breakfast inspired by his heritage. European options, including a Greek breakfast, are also available.

The menu also features specialist steaks, including ribeye - a dish more commonly associated with evening dining than brunch.

“It’s a steak we weren’t intending to do because it’s very specialist,” Hussein admitted. But a new linked venture, Aya Halal, which supplies pre-packed halal beef cuts, made it possible.

“Because of that new venture, we decided to bring the cuts into this business so we can sell ribeye steaks. They’ve been very popular.”

From 4pm until midnight, Aura shifts towards desserts, grills and a small selection of curries, alongside its in-house ice cream.

“We bought the machines from Italy, and our ice creams are made in-house from scratch using milk, pistachios and all the different flavours,” Hussein said.

So far, the gamble appears to be paying off. The café has seen strong demand during its first fortnight, with much of its early marketing driven by social media.

“Honestly, the response is more than what we expected,” Hussein said. “The first 10 days we were so busy. It’s like having a storm. You’ve got to stay calm and make sure the customer experience is great. We didn’t compromise on that.”

He believes platforms such as Instagram and TikTok have played a key role in spreading the word.

“Everybody who comes in is on social media,” he said. “If you put Aura Café in there, you get lots of shared posts. It’s been very popular.”

Despite the strong start, Hussein says the focus now is on refining the concept before expanding.

“We want to make sure this is scalable,” he said. “Once the base is done, we want to open in good locations where this would be an asset to the area. We want to master Leeds first.”