AMERICANA hit Manchester like a juggernaught in 2012/13 with burgers, barbeque and sodding cupcakes. We're still flying through 2015 too... Ed's Easy Diner, Burger & Lobster, Eddie Rocket's (maybe) and seventeen more Byron's (inevitably).
We're not going for over-the-top Americana - we've pulled influences from all over - Asian cuisine to Northern Soul stuff
The trend for gourmet fast food, it seems, still has wings. Unlike these poor little buggers.
Yes, next up for Manchester is Yard & Coop, a new £200k 120-cover fried chicken restaurant to open this summer in the hefty, 4500 sq ft unit at 37 Edge Street (opposite Luck Lust Liquor & Burn). We're told to expect polished concrete, 70s church pews, 50s formica and wall art by local artist Mei Tse. Oh and caged light fittings, naturally.
Whilst Manchester has gone all-in on 'haute' revamps of ground meat, burritos, ribs, dogs and so on, the city centre still has one noticeable greasy gap; a new-breed restaurant devoted entirely to fried poultry. And only poultry.
Americana strongholds like Almost Famous and Solita have experimented. Dipped a toe in the buttermilk marinade. But unlike London, with its Mother Cluckers and Wishbones, or Liverpool with Yard Bird, Manchester has yet to welcome a fully-fledged 'fancy fried chicken' gaff (anyone heard back from Bird & Beast?).
South Shields-born Laura Morris - owner of the new Yard & Coop and formerly of Northern Quarter's Terrace and Simon Rimmer's Greens in Didsbury - reckons it's time the bird was the word.
"Manchester has been at the forefront of casual dining trends for the whole of the North," says Morris, "and I don't see why fried chicken can't take off in the same way as burgers. London and Liverpool have taken to it, we want to be the first to kick-start the trend in Manchester.
"We've been toying with spices, sauces, marinades and a load of buttermilk to create chicken dishes cooked in the Henny Penny (a pressure fryer)," continues Morris. "We're not going for over-the-top Americana - we've pulled influences from all over - Asian cuisine to Northern Soul stuff."
Morris' affiliation with chicken couldn't be more textbook. "I have family in Kentucky and spent loads of time there as a kid," she tells us. "That's where the love came from.
"I've worked in the Northern Quarter for a few years now, I think I know the people and know what the place is about. I'm sure we can make fried chicken work here."
Yard & Coop will open this July on Edge Street.
