Hiro in Japanese means abundant.
Giorgia, half Italian and half German, moved to the UK to be with partner Stuart. They made the decision to commit to food in 2022, operating first out of their small flat in Elephant and Castle.
‘What is the food that most of the population eats? Rice. What are the best ways to eat rice? Curry and sushi’. However, sushi remains largely unpopular in the UK – ‘90% don’t like sushi or fish flavours. 85% eat at McDonald’s, so people like fast food but they don’t like fishy flavours. That’s what we found out’.
Thus, the Sushi Burrito was born, with fried chicken instead of fish. The pair brought their creation to their first shop in Embankment, then after a year or two, began to add curries from around the world. ‘This location we’re still figuring out, but the aim is to sell people’s favourites.’
The aim of My Hiro is to produce delicious, affordable, and healthy fast food for people to pick up on their way home from work. The current bestseller is Katsu curry served with rice, with either chicken or prawn. Their market research continues, with customers feeding back what their favourite food is, so that it can be added to the expanding menu. ‘you can have very good food, making it fast and keeping it cheap’. They keep their prices low – ‘if people come in everyday, they can’t afford to pay £10 every time’.
It is mainly a takeaway, but there are a few tables, and Stuart has just made beautiful wooden benches for customers to sit outside. They also have access to the backyard and are hoping to open it up in time for summer. ‘The full name of the business is My Hiro Hidden Secret – the backyard is the secret.’
