Exmouth Market favourite Hummus Bros is gearing up to rebuild after a huge fire destroyed the kitchen on Valentine’s Day. Work will begin in the next fortnight.
Co-founder Christian Mouysset said the Mediterranean restaurant will be restored to its former layout and revealed his hopes of reopening the premises in the next few months.
@DougieBolton Hi Doug, sorry, we had the small matter of a large fire but we will be back soon.
— Hummus Bros (@hbros) February 18, 2015
Emergency services were called to the restaurant in the early hours of 14 February after a refrigerating unit ignited, causing flames to engulf the inside of the premises.
Mouysset, 34, said the fire caused “extensive” and “significant” damage to the restaurant, adding that the cost of the restorative work had yet to be calculated.
He said: “We’re having to re-do everything: the kitchen, all the machinery, the counter, the floors. We’re just going to restore it to what it looked like before.
“The fire brigade said these sort of kitchen fires usually happen about ten times a month across London. They didn’t think the incident was abnormal in any way.”
Mouysset and his co-founder, Ronen Givon, only found out about the fire when a passerby saw the damage to the restaurant and contacted them via Twitter.
“We couldn’t believe it,” said Mouysset. “I couldn’t believe the manufacturers didn’t make the [refrigerator] units much safer either, if they really do happen that often.
He added: “Everyone around Exmouth Market has been really supportive over the past month. It’s a great little street with plenty of good, friendly restaurants.”
Since the fire, Mousysset and Givon have set up a pop-up stall in Exmouth Market.
Our temporary @Exmouth_Mkt @exmouthlondon location. #popup #firewontstopus #supportsmallbusiness pic.twitter.com/r84ZczdHbc
— Hummus Bros (@hbros) February 20, 2015
A restaurant along the street has also offered the pair use of their kitchen to prepare their food, which ranges from homemade hummus to desserts and fruit juices.
Mousysset and Givon opened the restaurant in Exmouth Market two years ago.
The pair also own three other Hummus Bros restaurants across central London.
At the time of the restaurant’s opening, Givon said: “We work well when there are other food offerings around us, and I don’t mean Pret A Manger and Starbucks.”
“We’ve done a lot of work to change the brand and try to freshen it up because it’s been a while since we started. We thought it was a great location to relaunch.”
