That's exactly what CZER says happened when it opened its first counter in Mayfair.
The idea came from a craving. Hospitality consultant Mairi Livsey wanted an American-style chopped chicken Caesar wrap and struggled to find one in London. She had already thought of the name CZER when a US creator posted online about the same gap in the city’s lunch offering.
Mairi replied that CZER was coming to Mayfair, although she and fellow founder Marius Baltaitis had yet to secure a location.
That was a bold way to set a deadline! Within weeks, the pair had found an unused counter inside Mayfair Food Fayre, worked out their recipes and hired a team. They shared the process online, and CZER says its introductory post received more than 100,000 views in 24 hours.
The founders had prepared for around 50 wraps a day. According to CZER, demand climbed to roughly 400 a day, with repeated sell-outs and queues long enough to prompt the hiring of a queue manager. The business has since opened a second location on Brewer Street in Soho.
So, what are people queueing for? The menu centres on the Classic CZER and the Picante CZER. Both contain oven-roasted chicken breast, lettuce, Parmesan, croutons and house Caesar dressing. The ingredients are chopped and tossed together before being generously sauced and wrapped to order. The Picante gives the combination a spicier kick.
There is something appealing about taking a familiar salad and making it a substantial, easy-to-carry lunch. Chopping everything together should mean you get a bit of chicken, crunch and dressing in each bite, rather than reaching the end of the wrap to discover all the croutons have gathered there.
Mairi says the response has been “beyond anything we imagined”. Social media may have helped people discover CZER, but its next challenge is keeping customers coming back once the excitement of a new opening has settled.
If you fancy seeing what the fuss is about, you can find the original CZER at Mayfair Food Fayre, near Marble Arch. The Soho branch is at 87 Brewer Street. Given the brand’s history of selling out, an early lunch might be a sensible plan.
Chopped, tossed, sauced. And apparently worth queueing for.