Cooking Greek and Lebanese food has always been a passion for Din Khiemdavanh, and after years of helping others start their own restaurants the New Iberia native has finally decided to put that passion into his own business.

Gyro House, located at 616 S. Lewis St., has been open for about two months and is personally owned and operated by Khiemdavanh, who said he has worked at just about every Greek and Lebanese restaurant in the area at some point.

The 50-year-old began his cooking career when he was a teenager after a short stint at a culinary school. In a similar way as other people are interested in sports, Khiemdavanh said he was always interested in food.

“I’ve been cooking my whole life,” he said. “I’ve always been curious about food and seeing what tastes good.”

Following his education, Khiemdavanh got his first cooking job at a Chinese restaurant in Lake Charles, where said he would cut onions for 10 hours in a row.

“Back then they were paying me $150 a week and I was so excited,” Khiemdavanh said. “They had these 50-pound sacks, and I would cut them for hours.”

Those humble beginnings led Khiemdavanh to working in all kinds of different restaurants, including working with Japanese, Italian and French food.

But it was always Greek and Lebanese food that always held a special place in Khiemdavanh’s heart. Khiemdavanh said he got his first job in the industry about 25 years ago, when the first ever Zeus restaurant opened up on Pinhook Road in Lafayette.

“I was the first ever employee hired that wasn’t (the owner’s) family,” Khiemdavanh said. “I started from the bottom washing dishes.”

After one of the chefs got sick and had to return to his own country, Khiemdavanh said he was asked to showcase his own skills cutting and marinating the meat and making the plates.

“They never trained me, I just learned from watching,” he said. “Two or three tickets came up, I showed him what I could do and he said ‘Man, you got it.’ After that I fell in love with Greek and Lebanese food.”

Over the years, Khiemdavanh said he has helped open many Greek and Lebanese restaurants and finally decided it was time to go out on his own.

“I’ve helped almost everybody open up their own restaurants, I figured it was about time to take a chance,” he said.

Due to his Asian background, Khiemdavanh said the only downside of the restaurant has been a few people skeptical of his credentials in working with Greek and Lebanese food.

“If you go to a sushi restaurant, the majority of them are not Japanese,” he said. “Just because I’m not Greek or Lebanese doesn’t mean I can’t cook Greek and Lebanese food.”

The food given at Gyro House is the culmination of all that experience, and Khiemdavanh said he has been able to provide his own unique twists that he’s learned over the years.

“The difference is I have my own flair,” he said. “I’ve put a little twist on it. I put all my experience of working with all these restaurants together and put it into this restaurant.”

Apart from the usual Mediterranean dishes, Khiemdavanh said he also has weekly specials that he believes sets Gyro House apart from most other Greek and Lebanese restaurants.

As a native New Iberia, Khiemdavanh said another mission of Gyro House is to provide a friendly atmosphere that reflects the culture of the city.

“I try to hire students from NISH and Westgate to give them something to do, I want to make it friendly and caring like the people here,” he said.