How long have you lived in the area?
We’ve been in Kentish Town for three years now (right behind The Pineapple), and for the past six we were just the other side of Haverstock Hill. What we like most is ‘real’ people – normal folk who’ve put down roots here and who aren’t living life in a bubble. We’re both Canadian, although we’ve had all four of our kids here, so we really value being part of a real neighbourhood where people actually talk to each other and send their kids to the local school.
What’s the concept of Bird? And how does it differ from nearby Chicken Shop?
It’s the brainchild of me and my wife, Cara Ceppetelli. We only do fried chicken – free range, and British, which comes in fresh every morning. We’re not southern-fried chicken, and we’re not Korean. The idea behind it really was that we wanted somewhere that we could actually take our kids for good quality food we grew up on, and there wasn’t anywhere. So we wanted to make it acceptable again, treat it with some respect, and make it accessible to people in a comfortable restaurant environment, with table service etc. We’ve made a big effort not to be gimmicky or ‘on trend’. We differ from Chicken Shop mostly in our product – we only do fried whereas they do fantastic rotisserie.
Why Chalk Farm Road?
It was totally opportunity-driven – we were lucky to get it and we knew that another operator we’re friendly with had backed out. We knew we wanted to be in Camden, and the chance to take this double-fronted shop. Chalk Farm Road offered us a chance to be part of a very popular stretch of Camden with great bars and nightlife, not overly crowded with great restaurants, and close to but not in the market.
What should readers try when it opens?
The tried and tested favourites are the glazed fried chicken – particularly wings, and burgers. We make all of our sauces and glazes in-house, and the chicken is quite crispy so we love it tossed in a glaze, ideally buffalo or gochujang (a sweet and spicy Korean speciality). A lot of people come for fried chicken and waffles, and our signature dish is probably the waffle burger. There’s also draft beer by the guys in Camden Brewery, cocktails, and we make our own proper glazed doughnuts every morning.
What have punters made of the restaurants to date?
We’ve had great feedback from all kinds of people at our first branch in Shoreditch, and more recently on Holloway Road where we opened in early October. It’s a funny thing – everyone thinks they know fried chicken, but there’s so many different ways of doing it that there’s always something new.
