Quni Tuni

If you hear the phrase Central Asian food, what comes to mind?

The answer might not come instantly, as Central Asian food blends together many different cultures and cuisines, including Persian, Russian, Arab, and more.

That’s why Dana Takenova, owner of Quni Tuni, asks her customers to keep an open mind when they try her Central Asian and Middle Eastern foods.

When they do, they find a treat for the taste buds.

Takenova started Quni Tuni with her husband, Arman Takenov, after their arrival in the United States from Kazakhstan in 2014. She had worked as a teacher and interpreter before leaving her native country. In the Sarasota area, she helped make food for a local mosque during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. People found it so good that they asked if she ran a food business.

Before that, Takenova hadn’t considered making food for a living. The couple officially started Quni Tuni in 2016. Quni tuni is a colloquial phrase in her native language to indicate a store is open 24/7 and is ready for business.

At first, Takenova and her husband baked cakes, buns, pies, and breads. She initially had trouble finding entry into a farmers’ market and, in the meantime, did a catering job for a Tampa hospital and also ran a food booth there every other week.

Meanwhile, Takenova tried to get into the Sarasota Farmers Market, letting market managers know that there was no other food like hers. She finally started at the market in late 2017.

In addition to the Sarasota market, Quni Tuni participates in the Farmers’ Market at Lakewood Ranch and the Phillippi Farmhouse Market.

Some of the most popular items sold by Quni Tuni include böreks (a type of pastry with meat, cheese, or other ingredients inside); falafel; tabouleh (a grain salad); and baba ganoush (similar to hummus but made with eggplant.) Takenova has occasionally done catering, but running the business and raising four kids between the ages of 2 and 14 keep her and her husband busy.

Takenova attributes her food’s popularity to cooking in the style used by her mom and grandmother, both of whom had friends of many nationalities and absorbed culinary influences from those different cultures.

Takenova had to start cooking for her family at age 10, and that’s given her lots of practice. Her family didn’t have a lot of money so they would exchange goods to get items like flour and bread and cook with whatever they had available. But, she says, “I never thought I’d be a cook.”

When new customers try food from Quni Tuni, their first reaction is often, “What is that?!” Takenova says. When they’re wary of trying something they don’t know, she’ll give them guidance. Quite often, they’re surprised by its deliciousness, Takenova says.

> Quni Tuni: facebook.com/QuniTuniSarasota