The Chiller Box team has recently been working on a project for one of our former clients, Sizzled restaurants. We have known the owner, Makis, since he arrived in the UK. Having run his own businesses in Greece, he was keen to bring Greek food to a new market. We welcomed him into our network of contacts including a solicitor and property agent which helped him to get his concept up and running.

The first Sizzled restaurant is situated in the Lakeside shopping centre and was closely followed by a second outlet in Bluewater. We did the catering design and equipment supply and install on both these projects. Being based in shopping centres, they brought their own challenges, but we worked closely with Makis to overcome any hurdles and he was happy with the service we provided. It was great to get the phone call about this new site in Oxford.

A new venture
This third restaurant is the first high street restaurant for Makis, and it is situated right in the city centre, in a pedestrianised area. It’s a fantastic location for footfall but did create a few challenges in terms of delivering equipment. Our careful planning and project management ensured this was all done smoothly with minimal disruption.

Keeping the project moving

On this project, we completed the catering design, equipment supply, and installation in both the main and prep kitchen. We also installed the front display counter which was all completed to the interior designer’s specification. In the kitchen, we also installed all the ventilation including fire suppression. We stepped in to help keep this project moving whenever we needed to so that Makis was able to open the restaurant as soon as possible.

Overcoming challenges

The kitchen space we had to work with is relatively small and so this required creativity from our designer to ensure that all the equipment fit in and that operationally it would run smoothly once it opened. We also needed to work closely with other contractors so that we weren’t all working in the space at the same time; everything was carefully co-ordinated to maximise efficiency.
With Sizzled serving Greek street food, there were certain specialist pieces of equipment that were needed. This included gyros machines and as chips are very popular, they also needed specific fryers. As we have worked on their previous sites, we wanted to ensure we sourced equipment that the staff are familiar with and that we know works well with the menu they offer.

Now the restaurant is open, it’s great to hear really positive feedback from Makis and discover how busy the team have been in their first month of opening. We are looking forward to helping this growing brand on future projects.