A couple whose kitchen business went up in smoke have raised it from the ashes.

Husband and wife Justine Markezinis-Hall and Spiro Nicholas have battled against the odds to reopen their business, My Dream Kitchen, after it was gutted by fire last year.

The blaze, which started in the flat above their shop in Falloden Way, Hampstead Garden Suburb last August, destroyed the roof and led to 23 people being evacuated.

Mrs Markezinis-Hall said she and her husband had arrived the next morning to find everything in their shop, including all the kitchen units, irreparably damaged.

She said: “The shop was a wreck. There was water sitting on the floor and in sinks, things were badly smoke damaged, everything was brown and horrid.

“The flats and shops either side were unharmed but we’d lost everything. It was really upsetting.”

The couple, who opened the business in 2010 in the height of the recession, were forced to board up the shop until they could restore it.

Mr Nicholas said: “We’d had so many customers from north London coming to our first shop in east London that we opened 15 years ago, who said they wanted a show room nearer their homes.

“We rely on word of mouth and we lost out on all that trade. I’m not sure what we would have done without our other shop.” 

The couple said repairing the business had been a “struggle,” especially as it had taken a very long time to dry out.

Mrs Markezinis-Hall said: “Water kept coming from the flat upstairs. We had major problems with damp in the brickwork.

“It wasn’t drying out, it was awful.”

The scaffolding around their shop had badly affected the parade as people thought the businesses were empty and stopped visiting them.

Mr Nicholas said: “A couple of shops on the parade closed down, including The Apples and Pears Massage Cafe. It was a bad time.

“The other businesses are glad to have us back and making the parade look occupied again.”
The shop reopened last week with brand new display units.

Mrs Markezinis-Hall added: “It’s taken a lot of hard work but we’re back to where we were before.

Mr Nicholas added: “We’ve come back now and we’re better than ever. It’s early days but things are looking good.”