The Chickery, founded in 2012 by celebrity chef David Adjey of Food Network fame, has inked a deal to open five units in non-traditional units across Toronto, the first of which will open in Mt. Sinai Hospital’s new food court project. Mt. Sinai is one of Toronto’s busiest hospitals, and RioCan, which serves as both an investor and the landlord for the new Food Hall, called the project “an important element to the conveniences offered to patients, families and staff.”
The Food Hall is being built with the intention of also drawing a non-patient lunch crowd from the many neighboring office buildings.
Dan Rowe, a spokesperson for The Chickery as well as the head of the brand’s development team, says, “We are keeping Toronto to expand to seven to 10 corporate locations, except for strategic non-traditional locations like Mt. Sinai, Toronto Airport, The Path, etc.”
RioCan sought out unique concepts with a healthier food menu for the Food Hall, instead of mainstream food court brands. The Chickery will be one of seven food establishments partnering with them for Mt. Sinai, and was chosen as the only chicken brand to be a part of the project.
The five-unit Toronto deal was signed with experienced multi-unit franchisees Bharti Kapoor and Rishi Kapur. The group has past experience in multi-unit restaurant and hospitality franchising.
“We are very excited to be the first Toronto franchisees of The Chickery in Toronto. We are proud to work with renowned Chef David Adjey whose focus is authentic quality chicken and gracious hospitality,” say the partners of the brand. “Our first location will be in Mt. Sinai Hospital’s food court which will have other varieties of exemplary food offerings.”
The Chickery’s expansion has been fueled by its franchise development partnership with Fransmart, the company behind the explosive growth of brands like Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Qdoba Mexican Grill. Fransmart has also invested in The Chickery via FranInvest — a new private equity firm for growing restaurant concepts — to own a controlling interest in The Chickery. The Mt. Sinai location will double the restaurant’s footprint in its home market of Toronto, and comes after the announcement of plans to expand into the U.S. and the Middle East.
Offering both healthy grilled and indulgent fried chicken options, everything on the menu is handmade daily with unique celebrity chef touches, and the chicken is all-natural, never frozen, and humanely raised without the addition of water or flavoring. The Chickery’s founder, Torontonian and celebrity chef David Adjey, has competed on Iron Chef America and also starred on both Restaurant Makeover and The Opener on The Food Network.
