London’s food scene is incredible, but Mairi Livsey knew there was one thing missing: chopped chicken Caesar salad wraps.
If you’ve been on social media in the last few months, you’ll likely have seen these all over your feeds, as they started popping up around Los Angeles earlier this year.
The wraps went insanely viral, leaving thousands of people drooling over their screens – including Mairi.
The 28-year-old found herself desperate to try one, but nowhere seemed to be selling them, and so the idea for CZER was born.
‘Back in January, I was in Gail’s, and they’d just added a new chicken Caesar club sandwich to the menu. As I was looking at it, I suddenly found myself desperate for a chicken Caesar wrap,’ she tells Metro.
Mairi, who had worked in hospitality for years, recalls pausing in the middle of the cafe as the business idea came to her.
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‘I went into a bit of a panic state, because in that moment, I knew I’d just had an idea that would work.’
Along with her partner, Marius Baltatis, she got to work developing the idea, and within 24 hours, they’d purchased a website domain, created social media accounts, and were designing the branding in Canva.
Flash forward to May, and within just six days of launching, CZER has already become one of the hottest spots for lunch in London, with reviews online hailing the wraps as ‘divine’ and ‘perfection’.
The chopped chicken Caesar wrap business is tucked away at the back of a convenience store in Mayfair and has just two items on its menu.
Customers can choose between the Classic CZER, containing romaine lettuce, roasted chicken breast, croutons, parmesan shavings, and CZER sauce, and a Picante version with jalapenos and a spicy sauce.
These can be customised too, as people have been buying crisps in the shop and adding them to the mix. The most popular addition so far has been Doritos Chilli Heatwave, but others have opted for McCoys Salt & Vinegar, and one person even added a boiled egg to theirs.
Priced at £13 each, the wraps don’t come cheap, but the price isn’t putting anyone off – in fact, people are queuing around the block to try them.
Mairi claims some customers are waiting up to two hours, and says they’ve sold out every single day since opening on May 9.
This is partly thanks to Eating with Tod, who recently shared a video of himself trying one of the ginormous wraps with his 2.4 million followers on Instagram.
However, Mairi claims a lot of the hype around the wraps has been ‘organic’.
‘We started posting on TikTok before we even had a space confirmed for the launch, and it’s brought together this really beautiful community,’ she says.
‘It’s mainly women, which is so lovely to see, as food can be such a male-dominated industry.
‘I get messages from women about the wraps at 11 at night, and they are just so lovely, it makes me cry.’
While some have been surprised by the instant success of the business, Mairi tells Metro she knew it would be popular.
‘I could picture people queuing down the street for a chicken Caesar wrap, because I knew that I would do that.’
That said, she didn’t quite expect so many people to turn up quite so soon.
‘No small business in the world launches and expects to have 100 people queuing outside on a Monday morning. It’s been a real whirlwind, and I’m speechless, but it’s amazing, and I’m so grateful.’
Calling all Diet Coke girlies…
What else would you pair with a Caesar salad wrap, other than a crisp Diet Coke?
Well, according to Mairi, CZER is also selling London’s ‘crispiest Diet Coke’.
Cans of Diet Coke can be purchased inside the store, and at the counter, you can request a £1 ice cup.
These are plastic cups, filled with crushed ice, which ‘marinate’ in the freezer for a minimum of 24 hours to make them really, really cold.
She explains that the long wait times are due to the size of the counter, which only has enough space behind it for three members of staff to be chopping the salad and making up the wraps at one time.
‘I do understand that the hype is real right now and we’re doing all we can to feed everyone who wants to try CZER, but I’m not encouraging anyone to queue for hours.
‘We’re not going anywhere, so if you want to avoid the lines and come back in a few weeks, we’ll still be here.’
Despite this, Mairi is taking the queues outside very seriously and doing everything she can to help people have a good experience while they wait.
She purchased 30 umbrellas so people don’t get caught out in the rain, has been handing out free sweets while people wait, and has even hired someone whose job is to manage the line.
‘Her sole job is to stand and chat to people in the queue, communicate the wait times with them, and let them know how much stock we have left so they don’t waste time waiting if we don’t have enough.’
And they often have to close the queues early, as they’ve been selling out.
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‘We make our sauce in vats every morning because we don’t have the space to make more behind the counter during the day, so once it’s gone, it’s gone,’ Mairi adds.
‘The recipe was developed for us by the Good Food Studio, and it’s so delicious.
‘All our chicken is cooked fresh each day, too, by a nearby salad bar called Oven or Nothing.
‘We refuse to have anything frozen, because I don’t want the quality to be compromised. If I feel like that’s going to happen, I will stop serving.
‘I want CZER to grow into something special, and I don’t want to take anyone’s money unless the product is 100% perfect.’
CZER is open seven days a week from 11 AM inside The Mayfair Food Fayre.
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