The Fat Pizza to open store in the Angel Walk Shopping Centre in Tonbridge
15:35, 28 July 2021
updated: 17:01, 28 July 2021
A restaurant owner who claims to have eaten pizza every day for the past 27 years is opening a new outlet in Tonbridge.
The Fat Pizza is set to arrive in the Angel Walk Shopping Centre in mid-August.
Sunny Chhina, founder of the firm, probably knows more about the cuisine than most as he eats the dish at least once a day for lunch or dinner - but draws the line at breakfast.
He said: “First of all, I like my pizza, it is just too easy.
“For example today, I thought ‘What should we do for lunch?’ I could either think about what I want for lunch or just make a pizza.
“Whenever people ask ‘What should we go and eat?’, they know they have to choose somewhere - otherwise I’m just going to say ‘Let’s go for pizza’.
“On the other hand, we have a secret recipe for our dough at The Fat Pizza. So I know exactly how much salt and sugar is in our pizzas and I can tell you it’s not that much.”
Despite the extraordinary amount he claims to consume, the 41-year-old says he has never had any major health scares.
He said: “Every so often I go on a diet but I wouldn’t tell everyone I was having a pizza a day if I was really large because of it.
“I do have loads of pizzas but, sometimes, I will have a thin crust pizza with more vegetables and less cheese on. Pizza is always tarred as being unhealthy.
“But I have seen caesar salads and subway sandwiches that have got more calories than we have got in a pizza.
“I do sometimes not eat pizza, but sometimes I eat two to make up for it so that’s why it averages one a day.”
Mr Chhina says one of the healthiest pizzas on offer at The Fat Pizza is one with a cauliflower crust.
He said: “This one is gluten free and can be vegan.
“We are also developing salads so by the time we open we should have around five or six salad items on the menu and we are thinking of adding smoothies too.”
Mr Chhina says his go-to pizza for lunch is topped with red onions and pepperoni. Then for the evening, he has a ‘Sunny Special’ which is based on a pizza called ‘The Beast’. It has a variety of different meats and plenty of veg to add balance.
The entrepreneur, of Hornchurch, Essex, has outlets throughout Essex and also in places such as Norwich, Milton Keynes, Altrincham and on Chatham High Street.
As well as pizzas, which can be as large as 24in, it also sells burgers, chicken wings and chicken strippers and milkshakes. It will offer a delivery service too.
The new branch will be run by Pennie Pucci, from Tonbridge.
The 45-year-old said: “I am so excited. This is going to be a new experience.
“I have experience of working in a restaurant in the Philippines back home but this is a new business for me.”
It is hoped the chain will be in a position to open other stores in Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Tunbridge Wells and Gravesend in the future.
