Two Fulham Chefs Start Gourmet Delivery Business
Social media post during lockdown led to business proposition
Maria Bizri
Two chefs from Fulham who met through social media during the lockdown have launched a gourmet meal-delivery business.
Charlie Conroy, 18, was messaged by Maria Bizri, 48, after he wrote a Facebook post about losing his job at a central London restaurant, just weeks after starting the role.
Ms Bizri owns a successful Hong Kong-based catering business, Pomegranate Kitchen, which she expanded to London in 2019.
On Sunday (22 March) she saw Mr Conroy’s post in a local Facebook group, in which he told Fulham residents he wanted to cook cheap but delicious food for the Fulham community.
So she messaged Mr Conroy asking if he would like to become the chef for her new business, which will use Uber Eats to deliver dinners cooked in her home kitchen.
Ms Bizri, originally from Lebanon, said: “Our industry has been hit so badly already but there’s a real sense of community that we all feel.
“My kitchen is fully licensed, so changing my business to doing home deliveries is something I had been gearing up to for the last week. Then I saw Charlie’s post on Facebook and got in touch with him.
“It’s great to have a colleague who you can bounce ideas off of. And this gives us both a way to cook for people, which is what any chef wants to do.”
Mr Conroy, who grew up in Guildford and only moved to London in February, said: “My life is crazy at the moment. I sold most of my belongings to move to London to start a job a month ago.
Charlie Conroy
“When I was offered a contract at the restaurant I had never felt so proud. But three weeks later it shut down.
“I’ve wanted to be a chef since I was five years old and before that I was cooking at a gastro pub in Surrey.”
The unlucky teenager shared a post on Facebook “thinking I would just advertise to cook for people’s birthdays or special occasions during the lockdown.”
He continued: “Maria contacted me saying she’d had a similar idea, and suggested we should work on something together and take it more seriously.
“She’s shown me some of her work and I thought it looked amazing.”
Mr Conroy added: “I don’t want to say the name of the restaurant I was working for because I have been advised not to associate it with this new project. But all I can say is that it’s owned by a very famous chef.”
Pomegranate Kitchen – or PomKitch – is now taking orders and will make its first deliveries on Monday (30 March).
Ms Bizri has just finished creating the menu. She sums it includes “moreish, hearty” dishes inspired by Mediterranean, North African and Middle Eastern cooking.
She said the produce will be bought from shops and market stalls in North End Road.
For every six orders, they will offer one for free to a family of a nurse or doctor in the NHS.
Visit www.pomkitch.com to find out more.
Owen Sheppard - Local Democracy Reporter
March 27, 2020