RAW: Bluefin tuna crudo and special fried rice

Welcome back to Like a Chef; lifting the lid on restaurant cooking for you at home.

This week, we’re continuing our RAW series, and we’ll reveal why we decided to go completely off-script and put a banging tuna crudo dish on the menu at our chicken restaurant, FOWL. We’ll take you through the trials and tribulations of opening a restaurant in a competitive market, and share our strategy for reimagining the mid-week lunch break.

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Thanks for reading,

Jack and Will

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When Will and I decided to launch a chicken restaurant, we were met with a bit of a blow to our egos: everyone thought it was a bad idea. Far from the pats on the back we were hoping for, a lot of people told us it would be destructive to the careers we’d built. Our friend David Moore (from Pied a Terre) pulled me aside one day: “remember what happened when I tried to open a chicken shop”, he warned me. “The same thing happened to Bébé Bob” he added, nodding to the rotisserie-chicken spinoff of the iconic Bob Bob Ricard in Soho, which closed after only a couple of years.

Everyone loves chicken; it’s the non-controversial protein that unifies London’s diverse metropolis. So why was this new school of chicken restaurants doomed?

For context, these two examples weren’t anomalies. During the years that we were looking to open FOWL, a number of high-end operators were opening chicken restaurants which were consistently struggling to fill their spaces. At the same time, there were more operators than ever trying to get their hands on the UK share of the cheaper chicken market. Wingstop was worth upwards of £140 million when we opened and they were undergoing — for the first time ever — a massive expansion. Similarly, Raising Cane’s were crossing the Atlantic and opening their first chicken shop in the UK, as well as Popeye’s which was making the biggest ever UK entry. We felt sure that we had something delicious to bring to the market, but we had to find a way to compete with these chains that promised their customers cheap chicken faster than you can say ‘yes chef’.

Our strategy: we wanted to bridge the gap between the two. The familiar, comforting, no-fuss vibes of a chicken shop, but with proper free-range chicken, fresh ingredients, and a generous helping of Fallow’s signature creativity.

In theory, it felt like a fool proof plan. The space looked incredible and we’d tested the fried chicken umpteen times to get to a recipe we were all buzzing about. But when we launched, we were met with an unforeseen challenge. The concept that we’d latched onto felt like it was resonating on a Friday night and on the weekend, but on weekday lunches the restaurant was dead. What was going on? Will and I kept coming back to the menu, to marketing, to just about every element we could think of. For the longest time, nothing changed.

Then we went to Coqodaq.

We were booked to be in New York to film a video, and every other person we spoke to impressed to us that we had to go to the Korean-American fried chicken restaurant on 22nd street. We had, of course, heard of Simon Kim’s ultra-successful luxury chicken restaurant, boasting America’s largest champagne list. But we hadn’t expected how absolutely blown away we would be. Chef Seung Kyu Kim had redefined the concept, pairing next-level Korean fried chicken with surprising ingredients like oysters, truffle and sea urchin.

It felt borderline sacrilegious be in a fried chicken restaurant and to be eating things like caviar spooned onto butter milk toast and tuna tartare with calabrian chilli soy sauce. In my head these things wouldn’t have belonged, maybe would have even detracted from the glory of the chicken. But in practice it was a heavenly marriage. These lighter plates didn’t interfere but perfectly lined you up for a ridiculously tasty bite (or ten) of fried chicken. It was a mind-bending approach.

Pretty much as soon as the Coqodaq doors closed behind us, we started throwing out ideas. We were in the thick of an ‘aha’ moment: we’d thought building a menu that was near enough exclusively fried chicken was the only way to show reverence to this beautiful bird. In reality, it was holding us back.

FOWL sits in the heart of St James — a part of London swarming with suited-up professionals squeezing business meetings over lunch into their already crammed schedules. The vast majority would have had no interest in knocking back a pint and a couple of chicken wings at lunchtime. Frankly, neither would we (maybe in our younger days…). That didn’t mean disregarding the thing that FOWL was centred around, but it did mean taking a leaf out of the Coqadaq book and building a layered menu that catered for more than just the late night fried chicken craving. A menu that gave power back to the customer and allowed them to choose the kind of meal they wanted to eat.

And so we adapted. We took that inspiration and created punchy, fresh and flavourful starters to pave the way to world class fried chicken.

And where better to start than with an homage to Coqodaq’s tuna tartare? Our Bluefin tuna crudo was the first raw fish dish that we trialled, and it’s coming into season, so it’s back on the menu at FOWL for the summer. Tuna is known for its satisfying fatttiness, so the crudo slices just melt on the tongue with a clean but rich taste. Coated in a bright dressing, with the sweet heat of gochujang, the depth of miso, and a zippy kick of lime, those delicate ocean flavours are elevated and perfectly balanced. It’s the best way to feel like you’re eating something indulgent, whilst still satisfying your desire for something fresh and light. Whether you follow it up with a plate of fried chicken, we’ll leave up to you.