22 January 2024 , 16:05
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People are coming from far and wide to taste the delights of a burger van which has gone viral online.
Eighteen months ago, Peter Wilson was a forklift truck driver making burgers in his flat as part of his passion for the patty. Now, his business Zahut's Burgers has gained more than 17,000 followers on Facebook and led people to come all the way from Edinburgh in Scotland to try his "hot, filthy, dirty" loaded patties sold from a cabin in Sunniside, Gateshead.
The self-taught chef is now planning to open a restaurant in his hometown of Stanley. Peter's success has been sudden and surprising to him. He told ChronicleLive: "It all happened pretty quickly, within a month or two, I quit my job and got my first shop and it's been going and going ever since then.
"I haven't really got any experience as a chef, I started cooking at home and impressing myself with my own cooking, and got loads of attention doing that and I started selling them. I've always been quite creative, I'm artistic drawing-wise, graphic design-wise and photography. That's helped a lot, doing my own photos and logos, but it's not something I ever wanted to do when I was growing up.
People have come from Scotland to try the burgers (ChronicleLive)"I wanted to do something with my drawing or tattooing. This just came out of nowhere, to be honest."
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Peter credits Zahut's success not only to his creativity but also to reviews from influencers like Dazza. After creating a special Irn Bru burger, which included sauce flavoured with the orange fizzy drink, haggis and Lorne sausage, Zahut gained a strong following in Scotland.
Peter was surprised by the dedication of a couple who crossed the border to try the unusual treat. "I was a bit blown away, I thought they were taking the mick at first. But they put a status up saying that they'd travelled down and it was that good they'd got a hotel to stay another night and come again the next day," he said.
Peter believes that dining out across the North East has helped him understand what people want to eat. His cabin is located next to Namaste, an Indian restaurant known for its appearance on Come Dine With Me: The Professionals.
In 2023, they paired up to create a unique burger, using Peter's scrummy patties and Namaste's vibrant chicken tikka masala sauce and crispy onion bhajis.
He continued: "Maybe in the future I'd like a second shop in the town, but for now I need to go back to where it all started, where everyone's stayed loyal to me and go back to Stanley really. I knew (opening a shop in Newcastle) was a going to be a bit of a risk relying on getting new customers. I felt confident I'd be able to get them, but that felt unfair on the customers that I've already got."
Zahut has glowing reviews online. One happy customer write: "For a tiny hut in a pubs car park I was happily surprised at the quality and flavour here. A tiny hut in a carpark but they are doing a good job. Large and flavourful burgers with a decent pile of fries in the box."
Another added: "This place is a hidden gold gem! Only went here as a spur of the moment thing and my god I wasn't disappointed. Burger was phenomenal and the loaded fries were one of the best I've had."
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