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These are some of the tunes that we’ve been playing while frying up our chicken. Plug your ears in and groove…

Brick House – The Commodores

 

It’s a disco classic that epitomises Commodores funk about a woman with a fine body (built like “a brick shithouse”. That’s is a good thing, in case you weren’t sure).

The story goes that William King, the group’s guitar/ trumpet player was sent home to write a new song. He fell asleep on the couch and woke up with a notepad of words on his chest. Fortunately for him his wife Shirley Hanna-King was also a songwriter and she did it for him. Going to see if the same technique works for the rest of this blog…

 

Low Rider – War

 

War were a funk band from Long Beach, California who fuse rock, funk, jazz, latin, rhythm and blues. All the good stuff, basically. It’s got a driving bass line and an awesome sax solo that made it a proper anthem back in the day. Even though it’s good to listen to while frying chicken, we reckon it would sound even better cruising through downtown LA.

 

Master Blaster (Jammin’) – Stevie Wonder

 

Needs no introduction.

 

Surviving The Times – Nas

 

This tune is Nas’ autobiographical account of around the time he signed for Columbia. “I bought my first mic, I wrote my first rhyme, I was about nine… I wonder could they tell, how did they know. Sixteen years later, here I go”. Eight studio albums, two labels and a whole load of beef later, Nas’ music definitely survives the times.

 

Southern Fried Chicken Pt 1 & 2 – Bill Thomas and The Fendells

 

Two main reasons to like this tune. The chicken (obvs) and Thomas going “awight, awight, awight” over the top of it. What a lad.

 

This Must Be The Place – Talking Heads

 

Byrne said he was going to steer away from love songs. He said the subject was “kinda big’. But he was happy with this one because it wasn’t corny, stupid or lame. That’s pretty much our love song checklist too.

It takes two days to prepare our buttermilk chicken before we fry it. We brine the chicken for 24 hours to make it really moist. Then we blend eleven different herbs and spices in our secret crumb* recipe to give it a peppery, spicy and crispy coating that is delicious on its own, or when combined with any of our dustings and sauces.

When we were experimenting with different ingredients and techniques to mix the perfect crumb we were aiming to create something that gives the chicken some crunch but keeps it moist. And we’ve had to eat a lot of fried chicken to get it just right.

The buttermilk gives it a luxurious texture, and you create your own chicken dish by picking your favourite sauces and sides.

We are already preparing a whole load of specials, coming soon. But why not tweet us at @yardandcoop if you have a favourite chicken dish you’d like to see on the menu?

Winner, winner chicken dinner.
*Ok, you didn’t think we were actually going to tell you how we do it, did you?

So. First blog. Bit awkward isn’t it, ‘cos we haven’t properly met or anything yet, but we should probably break the ice. So here goes…

We are two friends who really love fried chicken. We’ve eaten fried chicken all over the world, especially in Kentucky where Laura has some family. You probably have too, eaten lots of fried chicken we mean. ‘Cos it’s a damn tasty thing. But we thought that it just wasn’t getting the respect it deserved, it was getting stuck in greasy buckets and served up by some old dude with a white beard. Well we thought there was more to it than that.

So we started playing around with our own recipe for buttermilk fried chicken. It took us a while, over a year in fact, of travelling, tasting and testing out spices, marinades and crumbs. Then we got it.

And Yard & Coop was born.

We love Manchester, the Northern Quarter, going out and anywhere that lets you have a good time without any bullshit. Fun, casual dining in places where you get a proper welcome, where sharing food is just part of the party.  So that’s what we want to create in our restaurant.

And we really hope you like it.