Courtesy of Belle's Hot Chicken
Wave your drumsticks in the air, chicken fans. Morgan McGlone of Melbourne’s Belle’s Hot Chicken is opening a second outpost of the Nashville-style chicken diner, this time in Richmond.
“Richmond is a great centre without being the CBD,” says McGlone
The offering at Belle’s 2.0 will be much the same at the Gertrude Street headquarters, but bolstered by the addition of a fried chicken sandwich and a cornmeal-coated mushroom number with green goddess dressing and fennel slaw.
And, as at the original, McGlone promises plenty of fun on the drinks front with sommelier Peter “Kimchi Pete” Jo jumping on board to help with the list. The wine offering will be similarly natural-leaning but with some more approachable drops for the funk-adverse. There’ll be a stronger beer presence, too – just don’t expect any craft stuff.
“We cop a lot of s*** from people for not doing craft beer,” McGlone says, “but I’m not into it. I just really like Carlton United, I grew up in the Sutherland Shire, and I used to drink VB and stuff like that.”
A host of “amazing new Bourbons and Scotches” discovered by McGlone on a recent trip to Tokyo will also join the party.
The Swan Street venue is slated to open in early November, but McGlone’s not stopping there.
“This business is built so I can replicate it comfortably many times,” he says. “I always envisioned having them in train stations or at airports or anywhere – other countries, which we’re in process of doing.”
Belle’s Hot Chicken takes wing? Watch this space.
Belle’s Hot Chicken Richmond, shop 1/107 Swan St , Richmond, Vic.
