The Chicken Shop Opens

Merivale’s first totally dedicated takeaway shop, rotisserie outlet The Chicken Shop opens Thursday on Sydney’s Oxford Street.

Located in the small shopfront next to The Paddington, The Chicken Shop will serve take-away only rotisserie meats, salads and sandwiches by culinary heavyweight Ben Greeno.

Greeno, whose CV includes Momofuku Seiobo, Michelin-starred Sat Bains and the world’s best restaurant, Noma, moved from the rarefied air of fine-dining to lead the culinary charge at The Paddington in 2015. Now Executive Chef of Merivale’s Paddington precinct, he has designed a short and snappy menu using the same specially-imported, custom-made French rotisseries that typify the pub.

“Eating out is a pleasure; cooking at home can be joyful, or maybe just a necessity, but sometimes you want nothing more than to grab some takeaway and have an easy night” Greeno says. The Chicken Shop’s aim is to make life as easy and flavoursome as possible.

In addition to the succulent poultry, The Chicken Shop will roast a selection of meats and seafood that change every night – ocean trout, pork belly, lamb rump, glazed ham and beef rump. The roast will be served alongside a selection of fresh salads including ‘cos lettuce with avocado, radish and pumpkin seeds’, ‘chickpeas, tomato, cucumber and feta’ and ‘green beans with hazelnuts and shallots’, and sizzling sides – fries, roasted carrots with sunflower seeds and potato gratin.

It’s the lunchtime sandwich offering that Greeno is most excited about. “I’ve actually wanted to do a sandwich place for a while,” says Greeno. “We’re using bread from Brickfields which holds up really well – it doesn’t fall apart in your hands and is easy to eat”. Think ‘glazed leg ham with comte, Dijon mustard and pickle’, ‘hot chicken, jalapeno and pickled carrot’ or ‘fish fingers with crushed edamame, yuzu and togarashi’, a throwback to Greeno’s childhood in the UK.