Tara Stojic, who owns Crooked Kitchen in Lyttleton Terrace, has made a reputation for quality food over the past four years.

But the time has come for her to move on.

"It was only a three-year plan but now it will go into five years if I don't get (a move on) it soon," she said.

"I have always wanted to travel and do some aid overseas but I can't do anything until this sells."

Ms Stojic has tried to sell the business herself but will invest in an agent in the coming weeks to try and speed up the process.

She said the success and popularity of her store, which caters to people with specific dietary requirements, happened almost overnight.

"Hopefully (people keep coming back) because it tastes good but I think people can trust our food," Ms Stojic said.

"So many people come in with diet allergies and or because they don't trust other places. I read so many horror stories about other places, and we have (regulars) who are coeliacs or have nut allergies, so we take precautions with that.

"This is one of the only things I have really enjoyed doing. I can't sit down because I get too restless.

"It started with just me by myself and it got busy one day and never really stopped. So I had to employ someone else, then another and then another."

In her time in Lyttleton Terrace, Ms Stojic has seen the precinct evolve. She said there used to be a lot of vacant shops.

"It's changed quite a bit," she said. "It seems to be getting better.

"There potential for more places to open (and) if the food is good, people will go there.

"Even though I'm a hypocrite for saying this, not enough people open on public holidays or weekends in this area.

"I tried it at the start, when it was me working seven days, I worked 7am to 7pm every day to find the hours that suited us but our clientele is lunch-time (businesspeople), so there's no point in opening on public holidays."

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