He was forced to leave his wife Nermin and young children behind in his native Turkey because of visa issues, and did not speak English.
Working for his brother, who had established popular Turkish cafe and restaurant Paasha in the city, Mr Bay’s conversation was limited to "hi, how are you, what would you like?", he recalled.
But fast forward two decades and the Bay family now firmly consider Dunedin home, having also forged their own path in the hospitality scene.
Several weeks ago, the family opened the doors to the relocated Anatolia Turkish Kebab House in the historic Excelsior Hotel building in Princes St.
Mr and Mrs Bay reckon it will be their last venture as they hand more responsibility over to their son Eren and look forward to a well-deserved retirement.
Originally from Kayseri, a large industrialised city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, Mr Bay was an engineer by trade when he answered the call from his brother, who was in need of chefs at his newly opened business.
Several years later, the rest of the family’s visas were finally accepted and they were reunited. Mrs Bay also worked at Paasha for a year.
When the couple decided to open their own store, they knew they could not open near family so chose Mosgiel.
After more than 10 years, the family sold and moved to Hamilton to open another Paasha restaurant.
But Mrs Bay was undergoing cancer treatment at the time and felt more comfortable in Dunedin — which had become home — so they sold up and returned south in 2012.
They opened Trojan Turkish in George St and Anatolia Turkish Kebab House in Princes St.
Trojan was in a former photography shop and it was a big undertaking to refit into food premises, taking about a year to open.
In contrast, Anatolia was already fitted out and within a week of working day and night, they had it up and running.
Trojan was sold after three years and Anatolia was kept as the family’s "baby".
Covid-19 was an extremely difficult period for those in hospitality.
There were " a lot of unknowns" for business owners but the government subsidies removed some of the stress, Eren said.
On a more positive note, "I think my parents enjoyed having a few days off," he laughed.
About May last year, their landlord said they were putting the building up for sale and their lease would not be renewed.
When the former Excelsior premises came up for rent, very close to the existing store, it was the perfect fit.
After a few setbacks - they had hoped to open in November last year - they were now operating and "thrilled" with how it looked.
The previous store, where they operated for about 10 years, was cramped and they could not do a lot with it.
The new premises allowed them to put their "best foot forward".
"It’s the icing on the cake, almost," Eren said.
Working together "non-stop", Mr and Mrs Bay agreed they were very tired, despite loving their work.
"I love this job, meeting everyone," Mrs Bay said.
Eren, who shared their passion for the business, said his parents’ work ethic had been motivating for him.
