# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
London is a bastion of culture, arts, literature, history and bloody good chicken shops.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
For many Londoners, particularly those of us who are black or brown, chicken shops are more than just a place to eat. Your local shop symbolises your ends (Morley's in South London, Sam's in North) and the people in your community.

Chicken shops are a place I've felt comfortable in for over 15 years. In the early days, the ritual was precise: storm in the Morley's at Crown Point straight after school with a group of other kids, get the biggest meal I could with the least amount of money, stand by the shop counter while digging into a cheap white plastic bag-already see-through with grease-to find paper sachets, before ripping them open and covering my food with salt and pepper. Then I'd close the box and shake it for an impressively long time, open it again, assemble the various condiments I liked (burger sauce, mayonnaise, barbecue), lather my food with all three, and walk straight out of the shop to the bus stop a few meters away. I did this most days after school, and during sixth form, sometimes on my lunch break.

Chicken shops, those small places with mirrored tiles and typically friendly South Asian men behind the counter, are something of a London staple. We have Morley's, Sam's, and Dixie's, plus the various chicken locations: Chicken Cottage, Chicken Valley, Chicken Palace, Chicken Village, Chicken Hut, and Chicken Castle. Then there are the location-specific chicken shops: Angel Fried Chicken, Hackney Fried Chicken, and Whitechapel Fried Chicken, as well as their accompanying acronyms (AFC, HFC etc.) There are also all the rip-offs. Mowley's and Norley's, I'm looking at you.

Chicken shops are more than a part of London-they are London. Or at least, they're London for the people who never have and never will identify with the glossy new-build flats and overpriced themed cafes that the city seems to be drowning in at the moment. For many born-and-bred Londoners, particularly those of us who are black or brown, chicken shops are more than a place to eat cheap food. Scattered around the city, your local chicken shop symbolises everything from your ends (Morley's in South London, Sam's in North) to the people in your community. The chicken shop is a place many Londoners have very strong feelings about.

According to Lemara, a writer, "you see it everywhere by 4 PM in London-kids fresh from school, in the chicken shop. Older me feels some type of way about it, but I see myself in those kids and remember that after-school congregation fondly. I don't want an artisan sandwich, or to sit down at a gentrified chicken place in Soho and pay a jacked up price for something Bossman has been doing for years. It's not about health or a balanced diet: it's a simple, familiar fix and an easy solution for an empty stomach. I don't want to equate chicken shops to the black barbershop or hair dressers, but there's a strand of similarity. Where else could I go and be cheeky with the proprietor, or be loud and messy? I also think on a deeper level, and akin to the NYC bodega, the chicken shop is a place you can really support immigrant business owners."

For people who don't have safe homes to go home to, Morley's is open until late and it's the only place outside of the home that black inner city kids can actually chill

Similarly, recent graduate and South Londoner Victoria tells me that chicken shops are a staple for the inner city working class.

"After 2010, I saw youth clubs being closed down one by one and so Morley's became the chill spot," she says. "For people who don't have safe homes to go home to, Morley's is open until late and it's the only place outside of the home that black inner city kids can actually chill without the feds turning up thinking there's some kind of illegal activity going on. Working class kids can take up public space there and have fun, and there's a special relationship between young Londoners and the people who work there. Bossman will always hook you up with an extra wing or free drink if he likes you, and they don't pressure you to leave after you've eaten like some bougie restaurants do. Chicken shops are generally seen as this symbol for poverty-while that's not necessarily untrue, it also serves as a space for young people to take their minds off the of the state violence they're subject to and actually connect and build friendships. Plus the chicken is buff. Seeing a Morley's lets me know that I'm home."

Saying all that, the "health question" is something that comes up a lot as I speak to people about chicken shops. Sapphire, an artist from Leeds who moved to London a few years ago, thinks that despite their cultural significance, there is a "sadness" surrounding chicken shops.

"Businesses are being allowed to buy shops in close proximity of secondary schools, and working class kids are gorging on very unhealthy food straight after school," she points out. "Don't get me wrong, I eat it from time to time, but I don't think kids should be eating it every day. I [also] think it's disgraceful that in England, families can still only afford to buy their kids a two-piece chicken meal. Some families literally have no time to go home and cook a healthy cheap meal-there's a lack of accessibility for hot cheap tasty food in London. It's classist."

Despite the nostalgia of those who associate them with a white Britishness chicken shops will never have, traditional fish and chip shops are becoming more and more uncommon on the streets of London. Comparatively, chicken shops are thriving-for the most part. Croydon has seen 20 chicken shops close over the past 3 years, perhaps a consequence of their rapid rise. Despite this, after Elijah Quahsie a.k.a. the Chicken Connoisseur went viral with his Pengest Munch YouTube series late last year, the idea that chicken shops were having a "moment" entered the mainstream cultural consciousness. In the months that followed, chicken shops have received shoutouts from Stormzy via his "Big For Your Boots" video, as well as Sound of 2017 winner RAY BLK, whose song "My Hood" includes the line "meet me at Morley's, best fried chicken is in South."

Bossman will always hook you up with an extra wing or free drink if he likes you

However, few have recognised that chicken shops have been a cultural marker for black and brown kids in the inner city long before white art students began wearing ironic Chicken Cottage t-shirts or you could buy chicken shop prints in Carnaby Street. Stormzy was referencing Morley's in the lyrics of "Wicked Skengman 4" back in 2015, and Tumblr Morley's Culture has a small archive of people from MCs Krept and Konan to Star Wars actor John Boyega shouting out the chicken franchise. Going back further, 2010 saw a song about the joys of Sam's Chicken rack up the YouTube hits, while this October marks the ten year anniversary of the iconic "Junior Spesh," a track from East London crew Red Hot, all about their chicken shop love.

"One thing I'll say is that we've been around for a long time" says Shan Selvendran, the 30-year-old who currently manages the Morley's franchise. He has been at the helm since 2009, seven years after the man who set up the business in 1985-dad Indran-passed away. "A lot of people have been repping it for 20-plus years but the last few years it's gone to the next level. In terms of the escalation, I put it all down to the music thing, and the fact social media is there. You have to remember everyone who used to go there, they're online now. They mention us. People talk about South London, so they gotta talk about us."

This year, Morley's has been at the forefront of capitalising on chicken shops' moment in the sun, selling merchandise online and reaching out to their audience on Twitter and Instagram. The founder of Peckham-based radio station Balamii, James Browning, tells me about plans for a yearly Morley's x Balamii rave, as well as the success of their first collaboration in January: "Chicken shops, they're part of the fabric of South London. We sold 400 t-shirts for the party and people still wanted more."

Selvendran also understands the cultural significance of chicken shops in London and the community they serve.

We live in a world where everything's going automated. But your local chicken shop? It's just not happening

"Everyone loves the Bossman," he tells me. "We live in a world where everything's going automated in some [fast food] places, and it's going to keep going that way. But your local chicken shop? It's just not happening."

When it comes to the health aspect of fast food, Selvendran says that "you'd never catch me saying that Morley's is for every day."

He continues: "You need to eat responsibly, treat yourself sometimes, look after your health. But people always tell me, 'We don't eat it now, but thanks for feeding me back then.' All of us chicken shop owners understand the influence of youngsters, but it's not about taking advantage of them, it's not that at all. At the end of the day, the margins are small nowadays but we try our best to keep things cheap. Here's something I will say: my dad died in 2002, and until 2009, the management was not very good. During that time it was the customers that kept Morley's alive. The stories about people's childhood? 'I only had a pound and the Bossman gave me enough food' I get so many emails. [It's why] I refuse to put anyone's face to Morley's and I won't put my face out there either, because the face should be the people. Talking about it, singing about it, rapping about it, and now you're writing about it. When I drive around South London and I see a Morley's, I get pride because I think that's my Dad. My Dad started this and the people kept it going."

As the gentrification of areas like Dalston, Tottenham, and Brixton drives so many working class kids from the streets, chicken shops hold even more significance as one of the few places that haven't yet been fully colonised by the white art students and middle classes. However over the past year, many a Bossman has used the rising profile of chicken shops to hike up prices. While the low price of chicken shop food has been fundamental in keeping inner city working classes coming back, the new chicken shop clientele can and will pay more.

Chicken shops have long been a symbol of defiance on high streets that are becoming more unrecognisable to the people who live near them. All I can hope is that they don't become another place the black and brown kids who built them up feel unwelcome in.

ORIGINAL REPORTING ON EVERYTHING THAT MATTERS IN YOUR INBOX.

By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For many Londoners, particularly those of us who are black or brown, chicken shops are more than just a place to eat. Your local shop symbolises your ends (Morley's in South London, Sam's in North) and the people in your community.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Meat pies, mash, and parsley liquor are a staple of London's history

London's original fast food: pie and mash shops have been around since the mid 1800s. While synonymous with working class Londoners - primarily from the East End or south of the river - the capital's traditional pie shops are slowly dying out,with some of the UK's most popular now operating from Essex or Kent. Over the past four years, London has lost institutions such as A Cooke - prominently featured in Quadrophenia; M Manze in Islington; and Nathan's, once popular with West Ham fans on match day, just around the corner from Upton Park. Meanwhile, a select number of traditional pie and mash shops continue to operate in London, often near street markets, with inexpensive, sustaining food available to eat in or take away. Some have adapted their menus to suit changing tastes and attitudes, others have adhered to their original offerings (for most, gravy remains a dirty word), while most only open for lunch and remain closed on Sundays.

While the holy trinity of minced beef pies with flaky lids, mashed potato and liquor - a vivid green parsley sauce, which demands to be paired with chilli-infused vinegar - isn't for everyone, the dish continues to unite many working class Londoners as well as sparking heated debates on which shop serves the best version. Most will agree on a set of universal rules, however: liquor is essential, mash should be scraped rather than scooped, a fork and spoon will suffice; and one pie is never enough.

Read More

Note: Restaurants on this map are listed geographically.

Another pie shop forming part of Michaele Manze's south London empire, the Peckham space isn't as visually striking as its Bermondsey cousin, but the pies follow the same age-old, top secret recipe. Moreover, the mash is uncommonly smooth and the vivid liquor has a far more agreeable texture. Arguably south east London's best pie and mash shop.

Launched by Italian immigrant Michaele Manze, a Ravello native whose parents settled in Bermondsey, M. Manze on Tower Bridge Road is the oldest surviving pie shop in south London. It opened in 1902. The shop's interior is, arguably, one of the most genuflected,having become an archetype of traditional pie shops with its narrow marble tabletops, booth seating and serving counter at the front of the building. This particular shop's liquor can be overly thick, but the pies are consistently exemplary.

Sign up for the newsletter Eater London

Sign up for our newsletter.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Ultimate Guide to London's Pie and Mash Shops

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Meat pies, mash, and parsley liquor are a staple of London's history London's original fast food: pie and mash shops have been around since the mid 1800s. While synonymous with working class Londoners - primarily from the East End or south of the river - the capital's traditional pie shops are slowly dying out,with some of the UK's most popular now operating from Essex or Kent.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
(Image: MyLondon)

Popeyes has finally landed in London and with it have come huge crowds.

Huge crowds gathered at Westfield Stratford's food court in anticipation of some fried chicken in the days since the shop opened.

With raving reviews, it might not come as a surprise that people are willing to wait for the food.
READ MORE: I went to the worst rated KFC in London and those chickens died in vain
But the wait time can reportedly be as high as three hours according to staff.

"It's like this every day, non stop," a member of staff overseeing the line on Thursday morning told MyLondon.

"From 11 till close, people drive from all over the country.

"Yesterday there was someone from York here."

On Saturdays, which is the busiest time for Westfield, wait times can be as long as three hours with the restaurant not allowing anyone else to join for periods of time.

But people don't seem to mind the wait according to Google Reviews.

"It was well worth the long wait in line," one person wrote.

And what's more - it's FREE!

"Highly recommend that people try Popeyes fried chicken. So, so, good!!" said another.

A third wrote on opening day that they had "no idea when or if I will reach the top [of the line]" because of the "200 people" waiting but there was a "nice chicken aroma".

With Popeyes UK 's one-week anniversary coming up, the crowds don't seem to be going anywhere.
Have a food story you think we should cover? If so, email lea.seeberg@reachplc.com Want more news like this? Subscribe to MyLondon's FREE newsletters here.
So if you want to get your hands on 'Famous Louisiana Chicken', be prepared to wait.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
New London chicken shop so popular it has 3-hour queues every day

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Popeyes has finally landed in London and with it have come huge crowds. Huge crowds gathered at Westfield Stratford's food court in anticipation of some fried chicken in the days since the shop opened. With raving reviews, it might not come as a surprise that people are willing to wait for the food.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A unique and intriguing insight into contemporary London life through the window of a busy chicken shop

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
André Prince Jeffries: Hot chicken has always been the secret of Nashville. This is where it started with the Prince family.

Dan Pashman: In the last 15 years, Nashville hot chicken has become a hot trend. Even KFC added it to the menu. But for decades before that hot chicken was well known among Nashville's Black community and some white folks. Originally, there was only one place you could get it, the place where it was invented, .

Person 1: This is my favorite place to eat. Last week, I was in West Tennessee and I was feening for Prince's chicken. So I had to come Tuesday when they opened up. Now I'm back on Saturday.

Dan Pashman: What does it mean to come here with your son?

Person 1: Building a family culture and a tradition.

Dan Pashman: Today, Prince's is a community institution and a popular spot for tourists and celebrities.

Dan Pashman: How does Beyoncé like her chicken man?

Dan Pashman: Oh, well, she's got hot sauce in her bag though.

Person 2: Yeah, a Louisiana hot sauce. Yes.

Dan Pashman: The hot chicken boom has been great for Prince's but lots of well-funded, white-owned places have also sprung up to capitalize on the trend. And they've grown quickly. So as hot chicken becomes big business, are the people who invented it getting what they deserve?

Dan Pashman: This is The Sporkful , it's not for foodies, it's for eaters, I'm Dan Pashman. Each week on our show, we obsess about food to learn more about people. The hot chicken origin story is apocryphal, but it goes like this. Thornton Prince was a philanderer. One night back in the 30s, after being out all night, he came home to his girlfriend. She was fed up with his womanizing and his partying. So when she made his beloved fried chicken for breakfast, she covered it in the hottest hot sauce she could put together. She wanted him to suffer. But instead he loved it. He asked for more. Soon after, she left him. But Prince couldn't get that chicken out of his head. He worked to recreate the recipe and in 1945 opened a place called Barbecue Chicken Shack.

Dan Pashman: Over the years, it's had a few different locations. Today there are two: One in South Nashville, and one in a food hall downtown, near the Country Music Hall of Fame. When I went a few years ago, before COVID, I visited a location that's now closed. It was in a strip mall on the east side of Nashville, near a gas station and a Pizza Hut. From the outside, you'd never guess you were looking at a restaurant that the James Beard Foundation has recognized as an American classic. Inside the wooden booths were decades old. A lot of people refer to them as pews. The hot chicken, itself, is served on a slice of white bread with sliced pickles on top. And everyone knows it's insanely spicy. Even the mild is too spicy for some folks.

Dan Pashman: When I visited, I sat down with André Prince Jeffries. Thornton Prince was her great uncle. Her parents ran the place before her. Now she's been in charge for forty years.

Dan Pashman: How much hot chicken do you eat these days?

André Prince Jeffries: Now I eat a piece every day just to test it. But the way I test it mainly is to let it sit overnight because that's how I grew up. It was always a late night place and my father would bring it home on Saturday nights. And when we'd get up on Sunday mornings, ready to go to Sunday school and have our breakfast, I'd see this greasy bag sitting out on the stove. So I like it when it's kind of sat a while and those flavors had kind of saturated it. And that's when I know it's right. So I let my chickens sit awhile and that's when I eat it.

Dan Pashman: What's your strategy with the white bread? Do you eat that before or after? How do you like...

André Prince Jeffries: I don't know. I sop that bread in that grease.

Dan Pashman: Oh, so the bread is...

André Prince Jeffries: And some people just come in just for the bread, dip the bread and they buy just the bread soaked. That bread has those good sauces saturated in it. You can't beat it.

Dan Pashman: André didn't spend a lot of time in the restaurant as a kid. Like she said, it was only open later at night. But she does remember one time her dad brought her in there during the day when it was closed. She was ten or eleven. This was during segregation.

André Prince Jeffries: And he took us to a room outside the kitchen. And I said, what is this room for? And he said, this is for the whit folks. Uh, what? So the Blacks ate in the front and the whites ate in the back. They had a special door. This is the secret of Nashville. They didn't talk about it. They just kind of took it for granted. The Grand Ole Opry people, long time ago - hey, when they come out of that Grand Ole Opry downtown, they beat that door down, getting in that back door in that back room.

André Prince Jeffries: In that secret room.

Dan Pashman: In the years after segregation, the restaurant moved and the layout changed. White customers no longer sat in the back, but the place remained more of a secret in Nashville's white community, while it was well known to the Black community. In 1980, André took over the business. At the time, she was 34, recently divorced, two kids, and working a government job.

André Prince Jeffries: My mother and father were the ones that were helping me along after my divorce, helping me pay my bills and so forth and so on. And I guess they were thinking of the future because at the time my mother was ill in the hospital and she had been in the hospital with breast cancer. But before she passed, that was her suggestion that I'd take over.

Dan Pashman: Did you think at that time, did you have plans or aspirations or did you think this was going to be your life's work or...

André Prince Jeffries: Oh, I had no idea. I had no idea. I'm just just trying to pay a bill, pay a bill. And of course, my eyes were big and never, you know, being in real business-like when I'm still not crossing the T's, not dotting all the I's, but I have learned as I've gone.

Dan Pashman: What are some of the most valuable lessons you've learned running the business over these years?

André Prince Jeffries: Persistence and patience. Don't take criticism personally. Just appreciate it, adjust, and move on.

Dan Pashman: And you made some pretty what turned out to be a savvy business decisions in your early days?

André Prince Jeffries: Oh, I don't know. I've had plenty of help. No way I could make anything by myself.

Dan Pashman: Now, I know before you took over, it was called the Barbecue Chicken Shack.

André Prince Jeffries: Yes. That's another thing that I did, was change the name to . The Prince is the family name. People think I'm calling myself royal, but Prince is our family name.

Dan Pashman: So she never understood why the place was called Barbecue Chicken Shack since they didn't serve barbecue chicken. She changed the name to Prince's Hot Chicken Shack. So she was the first to start calling it hot chicken. And by putting her family's name on the door, she made sure everyone knew who invented it. Those decisions proved to be strokes of branding genius. André also added different spice levels. Before you could only get it one way. And she opened the restaurant during the day instead of just at night. That created a lunch business which brought in families, office workers, and one local politician, who would prove instrumental in spreading the hot chicken gospel.

André Prince Jeffries: I will give due to former Mayor Bill Purcell, who really took the lid off the box. He's been eating it - well, he was eating before I took over. He's the one that started Hot Chicken Festival.

Dan Pashman: Later in the show, we'll talk with Mayor Purcell. That first Nashville Hot Chicken Festival was back in 2007. And that? That was the spark. These days, hot chicken is popping up on menus across the country. Like I said, even KFC is serving it. And André has customers like Anthony Bourdain, Guy Fieri, Kid Rock, Jay-Z, Beyonce, and some others that I found even more surprising.

André Prince Jeffries: The KKK come in. But all money is green. It doesn't matter.

Dan Pashman: Do they - were they in their robes?

André Prince Jeffries: Oh, they had the caps on said - had the little signature on the caps, KKK. And they said, they told me they were coming out of Kentucky, where they, you know, they had a meetings. So and then they came back the next day. Hey...

André Prince Jeffries: You just take the money. Hey, I got bills to pay. I don't care in what you believe.

Dan Pashman: When those guys first walked in, what were you thinking?

André Prince Jeffries: Am I dreaming? But, hey, you know, no big thing. They got to eat, too. They're hungry.

Dan Pashman: Is it me or is there like a great irony in these Klan members patronizing a Black owned business?

André Prince Jeffries: Oh, they've always been there. You know, we've always been in the kitchen. So they come where the food is. You know, they don't care.

Dan Pashman: The complicated racial dynamics of Prince's don't end there. As hot chicken has taken off, a lot of new places have opened up trying to capitalize on the trend. A lot of them are owned by white folks and they have big money behind them. The best known is . It's a sleek, fast, casual place with four locations in Nashville, all in or near downtown. There are also locations in Birmingham, Memphis, Atlanta... even Vegas. A 2016 profile of their owner on the website Food Republic was titled "Meet the Man Who Launched the Nashville Hot Chicken Craze."

Dan Pashman: It said "Hattie B's has made hot chicken cool." That sparked a controversy. A response in the newspaper Nashville Scene said, "Let's be honest. When you have a chicken dish that a quarter of the city has loved for almost a century, and the rest of the city comes to love and they learn about it, it's racism that kept most white people from knowing about hot chicken, because white people didn't go into Black neighborhoods. When the Black people who have the decades long experience in making hot chicken don't grow rich off it, but the white kid who got to go to culinary school does, it's not because his hot chicken tastes better. It's that it's still really hard for Black people to go to culinary school or to get the bank loans that would let them expand their businesses into neighborhoods white people will visit." The piece continues, "No one should begrudge Hattie B's their success. The food's great, the locations are great. But for them to fail to acknowledge the fundamental reason Hattie B's is more successful than the older hot chicken joints just feeds into the same old racist dishonesty."

Dan Pashman: Coming up, I'll ask André and the customers of Prince's what they think of that. And it turns out it's not quite so straightforward. Stick around.
+++ BREAK +++
Dan Pashman: Welcome back to The Sporkful , I'm Dan Pashman. Last week on the show, I talk with Padma Lakshmi , host and executive producer of and the Hulu series Taste The Nation . The world's changed a lot since I first had her on the show five years ago and so has Padma. She's now more outspoken about a range of issues, including the way women on TV are expected to look.

CLIP (PADMA LAKSHMI): I can't single handedly take down the patriarchy. I wish I could and I'm trying. But I can't. I still have to work within the system if I want a job in television. Today, I have more power not only with Hulu, but even on because I'm an executive producer. I have proved my worth and times have changed. And so hopefully everybody's changing with them or they will be left behind.

Dan Pashman: Padma also talks about the complicated nature of assimilation, and why her show Taste The Nation almost didn't get made. That one's up now, check it out .

Dan Pashman: Now back to Prince's Hot Chicken in Nashville. As I sat with André Prince Jeffries, we discussed what I should order.

André Prince Jeffries: Now I know you're not going to have it hot.

Dan Pashman: Oh, no, no, I'm not going to have it hot. I'm - I like some spice.

André Prince Jeffries: You think you can take a medium?

Dan Pashman: Well, I'm debating between mild and medium.

André Prince Jeffries: Well, if you're not used to spicy food, you start with a mild. But if you're used to something spicy, then go to medium. Medium is pretty hot. Now, like I say, I don't go past mild.

Dan Pashman: Maybe I'll get one small bit of mild or one small bit of medium.

André Prince Jeffries: Okay.

Dan Pashman: What do you think of that strategy to work?

André Prince Jeffries: That'll work.

Dan Pashman: While I waited for the food, I talked with André about Hot Chicken's newfound popularity.

Dan Pashman: Since, you know, there's been this huge explosion called the hot chicken boom over the last 10 years.

André Prince Jeffries: That's right, over the last ten years.

Dan Pashman: Yeah. How has that affected your business?

André Prince Jeffries: Well, it's increased. It's helped me. It's helped me. It has caught on so - all of a sudden? Like we've been here all along. So what's the big deal?

Dan Pashman: When you see other restaurants that have come just sort of picked up on hot chicken in the last few years expanding?

André Prince Jeffries: A loft of them do.

Dan Pashman: They're going into other cities. They're getting - some of them are getting a lot of investment dollars. And even though you guys are doing well, they're also doing really well.

André Prince Jeffries: Well, I - it could have been me, but I was just - I just like taking things slow. I just - my purpose was to try to keep something in the family. Mom and pop places are disappearing so fast. Big business is taking over and big business can always get those big loans. Where as Mom and pop places can't. The banks are not going to give us the money. They don't trust us with the money. So, hey, that's how it works. But something ought to stay just small and keep it local, you know? But I've had offers all over the world to come open up this and open up that. But you got to know what you're doing. If you don't, hey, you've sign your life away. So you can tell I'm not money crazy because otherwise I would been - take it all. All kind of offers I have had, some I regret I hadn't taken. But anyway...

Dan Pashman: Like what? Can you give me a rough idea. Like what was one of the offers that you might regret?

André Prince Jeffries: To come to Dubai was one of them. And of course...

Dan Pashman: Like open a restaurant there?

André Prince Jeffries: Yeah. Yeah. And New York. New York, several times in New York.

Dan Pashman: How much money are they offering you?

André Prince Jeffries: Oh, well, I mean, you know, I probably wouldn't have to work anymore. I wouldn't have to come down here anymore. I could probably be like Colonel Sanders and never be seen.

André Prince Jeffries: I enjoy the people. I enjoy the closeness and the intimacy of my customers. And they keep me going. They keep me going.

Dan Pashman: Why did you decide not to take any of those offers?

André Prince Jeffries: My age.

André Prince Jeffries: My age and some things you just wish would never change.

Dan Pashman: You know, you talked about how the the idea that big business, you know, these -

André Prince Jeffries: Of course.

Dan Pashman: They're going to have advantages.

André Prince Jeffries: Of course.

Dan Pashman: They're going to be able to get big loans, like you say.

André Prince Jeffries: Right.

Dan Pashman: There are some people who would say that the other advantage that some of the newer hot chicken chicken places have that allows them to get more funding is that they're owned and run by white people.

André Prince Jeffries: Well, that's true. That's true. You have to admit, racism still exists. Close your eyes if you want to, but it's still there when you open your eyes. There's no secret. That is no secret, because sometimes I wonder, you know, if I were a different color, where would I be?

Dan Pashman: If it happens in the next few years that one of the other places that sprung up more recently, whether it's Hattie B's or one of the other ones, if five or ten years from now Hattie B's is worth a hundred million dollars and they get restaurants all over the country, how would you feel about that?

André Prince Jeffries: I mean, that's Hattie B's. That's Hattie B's. Like I say, they got the money. You can't be jealous of that. But you know who you are and you stand up on it.

Dan Pashman: The chicken came. Right away, you notice the look of it, it has a dark, reddish-brown color to it because of all the hot sauce. And I saw what people were saying about the white bread, how it soaks in all that chicken juice and fat and hot sauce flavor. I ended up asking for extra white bread and extra pickles and then pulling the meat off the bone and putting it on the white bread with some pickles and then folding it up and eating it sort of like a taco. And this was a spice I had not experienced before. The recipe is a secret. It's clearly got a lot of cayenne, but beyond that, who knows? But it's not just hot sauce spicy. It's not just spicy on your tongue. This heat hits you deep. André's daughter, Yay, came back to check on me.

Dan Pashman: So this part of the interview, I may be coughing and stopping to drink water a little bit.

Yay Jeffries: I understand.

Dan Pashman: That was amazing.

Dan Pashman: And intense but in a very good way. You can see that I completely destroyed the mild.

Yay Jeffries: You annihilated it.

Yay Jeffries: Definitely.

Dan Pashman: The medium I struggled with - [coughs]

Yay Jeffries: I just had the mild, myself. So definitely, that's more than enough for me.

Dan Pashman: So who the hell orders extra extra hot?

Yay Jeffries: They are usually women get the extra extra hot.

Dan Pashman: I have to say, I didn't realize quite how amazing this hot chicken was until like hours later. Even as it was burning a hole in my stomach, I found myself craving it like crazy. You know, I've read about how spicy food can cause your brain to release endorphins and dopamine to basically make you feel high. But this is the first time in my life I felt like I had experienced such an intense hot food high that I was suffering withdrawal. I had some leftovers stored in the fridge in my hotel room. Later that night, I was at an event at the hotel and I actually left the event, where they were serving dinner, by the way, to go to my room to eat more hot chicken. Then I went back down to the event.

Dan Pashman: The next day, I went back to Prince's for more and I talked to some customers. At both my visits. The crowd there was about 50-50 Black/white, maybe 60 percent Black at some points. And at least on this particular weekend, most of the Black folks I talked with grew up in Nashville and have been come to Prince's for a long time. The white folks were more recent transplants or tourists.

Dan Pashman: When did you first hear of Nashville hot chicken?

Person 3: For me, like an hour ago in the car.

Person 4: It was in the tour book.

Dan Pashman: And so you ended up here at Prince's because it's in the tour book?

Person 4: Yeah, it's a recommended place to go.

Dan Pashman: I talked to one woman there named Carlotta. She's Black, born and raised in Nashville. She comes to Prince's most Friday nights.

Carlotta: And Nashville has a lot of different hot chicken places. But to me, nothing compares to Prince's.

Dan Pashman: Some of the restaurants that have had a lot of money pumped into them and that are doing real well now off of the hatcheck concept -

Dan Pashman: Are also owned by white people.

Dan Pashman: You know, and there's been some tension around that issue. You know, what do you make of that?

Carlotta: Well to be honest, I haven't heard anything about it, but - I'm gonna say it like this. I'm gonna be nice about it. We know how to cook some good chicken.

Carlotta: But, you know, of course, the food business, everybody always in competition with the food business because to be honest with you, it's not going anywhere. You know what I'm saying?

Dan Pashman: People got to eat.

Carlotta: Everybody got to eat. Yeah. So...

Dan Pashman: Yeah, it's interesting because, you know, it's a big topic right now in the world of food, cultural appropriation...

Dan Pashman: And especially when you have food that originates with people of color and then white folks long...

Dan Pashman: And start making all the money.

Dan Pashman: But I feel like in this case, it's a little more complicated because there's this big hot chicken wing happening but Prince's is benefiting.

Dan Pashman: They are getting credit. They are getting more money. So it's like it's not like they're just getting steamrolled.

Dan Pashman: But then you see, you know, like Hattie B's...

Carlotta: Well, let me tell you, because I do like me some Hattie B's.

Carlotta: I will say that other than this place, Hattie B's will be the only other place I will go to get some hot chicken.

Carlotta: And for me it's not like a Black or white thing. It's not. As long as the food is good and delicious and at an affordable price, they're going to always stay in business. You know?

Dan Pashman: Before I could leave Prince's, there was another pivotal figure in the hot chicken story that I had to meet. Bill Purcell grew up in the Philly area. He came to Nashville to go to law school at Vanderbilt and he never left. In the eighties, he got into state government, which is when he fell in love with hot chicken. After that, he was mayor of Nashville for two terms. In 2007, he helped create the first Nashville Hot Chicken Festival, which, like I said, sparked the boom. But even before that, he and André clearly formed a bond.

André Prince Jeffries: He came and not only just ate the chicken, but he used to come in here and answer the phone. He was so personable.

André Prince Jeffries: And take the call in orders and write them down for us. That's his purpose.

André Prince Jeffries: That's his purpose for here. Here on this earth to help André.

Bill Purcell: Yeah, well, that's that's the perfect thing to say. I think we should call the pallbearers in right now.

André Prince Jeffries: You're the best. You're the best.

Dan Pashman: André sat with us as I talked with Mayor Purcell about the first time he ate a chicken.

Bill Purcell: I think it's very much the same for everyone. You you have some thought that this is different. Obviously, there's another word in the title. It's - it appears to be different because it's darker and spicier and unlike any other fried chicken or chicken you've seen. And really the first bite told me that this was transformative and that I would never be the same.

André Prince Jeffries: He saw the light.

Bill Purcell: I did. Well, I saw all kind of light. And I - but I knew it was for me. And ultimately, I decided it was for everybody.

Dan Pashman: How - what spice level do you like your chicken at?

Bill Purcell: Well, it goes without saying this is a hot chicken shack.

André Prince Jeffries: That's right.

Bill Purcell: And so I have hot chicken here. I don't have mild or medium. If you wanted medium, you could look for a medium chicken shack. I don't know of one, but I have what has made this place and this city so special. That's the hot chicken. I don't recommend the extra hot.

Dan Pashman: And what's your strategy, Mr. Mayor? You pick it up and eat it? How do you incorporate the white bread? How do you approach that chicken?

Bill Purcell: I've sort of worked my way through it. The chicken is on top. I eat the chicken. I consider the bread to be almost like dessert.

Dan Pashman: Mr. Mayor, were you a spicy food fan before moving to Nashville?

Bill Purcell: No, I wouldn't say so. It was Prince's that introduced me to this kind of heat.

Dan Pashman: So you went from not having really any taste for spicy foods eating it hot here?

Dan Pashman: Are your taste buds, OK. Oh, are they functional?

André Prince Jeffries: I think they're dead.

Bill Purcell: My taste buds are just fine, thank you. It didn't occur to me to eat anything else. It's a hot chicken shack. You're coming to a place that specializes in hot chicken and you have hot chicken. It would sort of be like asking for - if you want to have a cheesesteak and saying no cheese, or I won't have a cheesesteak and just cheese, no steak. I mean, this is a hot chicken shack.

Dan Pashman: So are you telling me that if someone doesn't order it hot, they're not really having hot chicken? Are you going to say that right now in front of André?

Bill Purcell: No, I'm going to eat my chicken.

André Prince Jeffries: There he goes. He eats it hot.

Dan Pashman: Mr. Mayor, tell me about the first time that you considered this idea of a festival. Tell me about the inspiration for that.

Bill Purcell: Well, the inspiration really came from Nashville. We were in the process of beginning the planning for the celebration of our 200th anniversary as a city. It wasn't really that hard to realize that a celebration that included the whole city had to be around the one indigenous food that came from Nashville, that is Nashville. So that's now 11 years ago. And every year the crowds have grown every year the vendors and the and the hot chicken gets better, too.

Dan Pashman: And Mr. Mayor, since the beginning of that festival and the what I'll call the Nashville hot chicken boom, clearly, and I've learned from talking to André, it's benefited her family and her business a lot. And that's great to see. But I do wonder, like there's also other businesses that have sprung up that kind of jumped onto the trend and that may have benefited from the boom more. And maybe part of that is because André has chosen to keep her business small and local and that's what she wants. But I wonder if it concerns you that the spoils from the boom be distributed equitably.

Bill Purcell: And that's a very interesting question. Obviously, whenever the nation discovers something that it really didn't understand or know about before and what that means, especially for the originator. In this case, the good news is that Prince's is full. It's going to be full again next week. And I think in this case, André and her family and Prince's Hot Chicken Shack have continued to be not just celebrated, but also benefited by the recognition. So in this case, I think you have a great example of where the original has remained not only the best, but the center of it all.

Dan Pashman: A couple notes to add. We did reach out to Hattie B's, but they declined our request for an interview.

Dan Pashman: Next week, I'll talk with Stanley Tucci, famous for roles in classic food movies and Julie and Julia . Also famous for being the hot guy making negronis on Instagram during COVID. He has a new very food centric memoir out, we'll talk about the famous food scenes in and how his battle with oral cancer changed his relationship with food. That's next week. While you wait for that, listen to last week's show with Padma Lakshmi and please make sure you subscribe to our show in Apple podcast , or favorite us in or . Connect with our show and that way you won't miss episodes. Thanks.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hot Chicken Is Hot, But Who's Benefiting?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
André Prince Jeffries: Hot chicken has always been the secret of Nashville. This is where it started with the Prince family. Dan Pashman: In the last 15 years, Nashville hot chicken has become a hot trend. Even KFC added it to the menu.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Pengest Munch Ep. 27 Chicken King (Tolworth)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
BBC One - The Billion Dollar Chicken Shop

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Documentary series going behind the scenes at KFC.

# data[].attributes.headline
My influences could be the people that are in the shops. There are many different types of people and characters that enter chicken shops that I can analyse. My main form of research might be on locations at a chicken shop Another method of research I could use is interviews with workers and customers in the shop to gain their experiences and relate them to my work. I may also use surveys and observations that could inspire my work. There are also many articles and videos online about chicken shops, such as the Channel 4 documentary The Fried Chicken Shop, or the BBC documentary The Billion Dollar Chicken Shop. I can also look at books about other kinds of takeaway, like The Englishman and the Eel about pie and mash shops, and Takeaway by Angela Hui where she writes about growing up working in her parents’ Chinese takeaway. I can also look at examples of fried chicken shops in other countries or cultures, such as Nashvilla hot chicken which is talked about in an episode of The Sporkful podcast.

# data[].attributes.subject
My influences could be the people that are in the shops. There are many different types of people and characters that enter chicken shops that I can analyse. My main form of research might be on locations at a chicken shop Another method of research I could use is interviews with workers and customers in the shop to gain their experiences and relate them to my work. I may also use surveys and observations that could inspire my work. There are also many articles and videos online about chicken shops, such as the Channel 4 documentary The Fried Chicken Shop, or the BBC documentary The Billion Dollar Chicken Shop. I can also look at books about other kinds of takeaway, like The Englishman and the Eel about pie and mash shops, and Takeaway by Angela Hui where she writes about growing up working in her parents’ Chinese takeaway. I can also look at examples of fried chicken shops in other countries or cultures, such as Nashvilla hot chicken which is talked about in an episode of The Sporkful podcast.

# data[].attributes.headline
A project that I think is similar to my FMP was stars in your eyes. This project was about paying homage to something that was in your local community. Homage is a public show of respect or honour towards someone or something. I think this project is similar because I chose a subject that is something physical. This means that I can do a lot of primary research. For this project the subject I chose was my local football team Corinthian casuals. The team have a hidden history and the global impact that they have had on the sport. As chicken shops are also part of local communities, I could relate this by showing the impact they have on communities. In the stars in your eyes project, I made a map explained the link between my local football team and another that are based in brazil. I could do something like that in this project. For example, I could record information about the chicken shops through using different types of maps. I can also draw inspiration from the location drawing project that I’ve done, and a project called you’ve been framed. to kick of this project we were on location, drawing a room in a museum. We then later had to make a set based of the room we were drawing. We then had to photograph it to make the set look realistic. I enjoyed how we were making a set realistic and that’s something that I could do in my final major project.

# data[].attributes.subject
A project that I think is similar to my FMP was stars in your eyes. This project was about paying homage to something that was in your local community. Homage is a public show of respect or honour towards someone or something. I think this project is similar because I chose a subject that is something physical. This means that I can do a lot of primary research. For this project the subject I chose was my local football team Corinthian casuals. The team have a hidden history and the global impact that they have had on the sport. As chicken shops are also part of local communities, I could relate this by showing the impact they have on communities. In the stars in your eyes project, I made a map explained the link between my local football team and another that are based in brazil. I could do something like that in this project. For example, I could record information about the chicken shops through using different types of maps. I can also draw inspiration from the location drawing project that I’ve done, and a project called you’ve been framed. to kick of this project we were on location, drawing a room in a museum. We then later had to make a set based of the room we were drawing. We then had to photograph it to make the set look realistic. I enjoyed how we were making a set realistic and that’s something that I could do in my final major project.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
London street with 14 chicken shops - mile end road - "chicken shop mile"

# data[].attributes.body
appearance in adverts/ movies/ tv shows

# data[].attributes.headline
My chosen subject is chicken shops in London and the culture surrounding them. I’m interested in London’s chicken shop culture, and how this differs to other cities and also other types of takeaways. I think chicken shops have a really distinctive look and feel. There are many stories that can be told about chicken shops. Starting with location. The location of the shop can be particularly important especially with popularity. The more densely populated areas tend to have more chicken shops. The second thing is the décor of the shop. The cleanliness of the shop has on impact as people might not want to eat in an unappealing restaurant. The seating arrangement is can also be interesting as it can help with community and groups of people that in eat in these shops regularly. Logos, menu, and packaging are a big part of the identity of a chicken shop. Bright colours, bold designs and shapes make them easily recognizable. The menu also had cool features with the colours, fonts, and layout. Of course, the food itself is the biggest part of the identity. There are a lot of funny names of chicken shops around and most are a play on words with more popular chicken shops. In London especially there is a big culture around chicken shops. They are a place where groups can congregate and socialise while enjoying some food. Chicken shops often stay open late which means that they collect a diverse crowd. For example, late night workers grabbing their dinner or clubbers craving food. The shop design also interests me. For example, each shop will have a different seating arrangement. The façade is also very colourful and distinctive for each type of shop. Related to chicken shops are other kind of late-night takeaways like a kebab shop. I can investigate these because they have similar relations with chicken shops. The history is also very important. How did chicken shops become so popular and how did this culture around them begin?

# data[].attributes.subject
My chosen subject is chicken shops in London and the culture surrounding them. I’m interested in London’s chicken shop culture, and how this differs to other cities and also other types of takeaways. I think chicken shops have a really distinctive look and feel. There are many stories that can be told about chicken shops. Starting with location. The location of the shop can be particularly important especially with popularity. The more densely populated areas tend to have more chicken shops. The second thing is the décor of the shop. The cleanliness of the shop has on impact as people might not want to eat in an unappealing restaurant. The seating arrangement is can also be interesting as it can help with community and groups of people that in eat in these shops regularly. Logos, menu, and packaging are a big part of the identity of a chicken shop. Bright colours, bold designs and shapes make them easily recognizable. The menu also had cool features with the colours, fonts, and layout. Of course, the food itself is the biggest part of the identity. There are a lot of funny names of chicken shops around and most are a play on words with more popular chicken shops. In London especially there is a big culture around chicken shops. They are a place where groups can congregate and socialise while enjoying some food. Chicken shops often stay open late which means that they collect a diverse crowd. For example, late night workers grabbing their dinner or clubbers craving food. The shop design also interests me. For example, each shop will have a different seating arrangement. The façade is also very colourful and distinctive for each type of shop. Related to chicken shops are other kind of late-night takeaways like a kebab shop. I can investigate these because they have similar relations with chicken shops. The history is also very important. How did chicken shops become so popular and how did this culture around them begin?

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
man responsible for 90 percent of London chicken shop logos

# data[].attributes.headline
illustration examples of chicken shop facades 

# data[].attributes.subject
illustration examples of chicken shop facades 