By Andrew Macdonald
Dean Leland will have more time to enjoy his Front Harbour abode in Chester, now that he has sold his three-year-old shares in Bertossi Group to co-partner, the ambitious Hakan Uluer.
Leland is a former Empire Theatre executive and prominent in the Halifax high society scene, often accompanied to well heeled events by his friend, former Halifax Port Authority chairman David Henderson, a regional LG electronics salesman.
A year ago, Leland bought a second home in Chester. He primary home is located in Halifax. According to those close to the businessman, he plans to continue living in Halifax and Chester and is now scouting out business opportunities.
He had been a three-year partner with Uluer in the four restaurant chain known as Bertossi Group, which includes Amano, La Frasca Cibi & Vini, Il Mercato and the flagship, award-winning waterfront restaurant, The Bicycle Thief.
Uluer, who is now the sole owner of Bertossi Group, worked his way from the bottom of the restaurant food chain to the very top and relishes ensuring customers and employees feel part of the family.
Hakan Uluer is now sole owner of Bertossi Group chain of restaurants
In conversation inside the simple and meticulous Bicycle Thief in Bishop’s Landing on the Halifax harbourfront, Uluer remembers beginning his career 32 years ago in Istanbul, Turkey.
It didn’t start with food at all. He worked in a position below the busboys, he says. Vacuuming, polishing glassware, and cleaning bathrooms were regular duties. But he consistently nurtured ambitions to rise to the top of every hierarchical structure he was in, eventually finding a home in Halifax as part owner of Bertossi Group.
It was a long climb.
“I worked my way up to busboy, to chief busboy, to server, head server, restaurant manager.” He worked on cruise ships, in hotels, and in flagship restaurants. In 2002, he moved to Vancouver where he managed various different eateries.
“This is what I do for a living, I’m a restaurant man,” he says.
In 2008, when he decided to start a family, he came to Halifax and was immediately given a job as general manager of The Bicycle Thief by original owners Stephanie and Maurizio Bertossi, and later became a partner.
“I knew right away, we’re on the same page in terms of our vision and the way we do things,” he says.
In 2014, he teamed up with Dean Leland to buy the entire Bertossi Group. Before the acquisition, Leland had worked with Empire Theatres and was an executive with Sobeys for 35 years.
– With files from Kieran Leavitt
