Coqfighter opens second permanent site

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London-based fried chicken brand Coqfighter has opened its second bricks and mortar restaurant.

Announcing the opening via Instagram, Coqfighter describes the site in Brockley as its first “neighbourhood restaurant", and says it will also be a home to Coqfighter's recently launched sister concept, Goodburger. 

While the restaurant is currently only open for takeaway and delivery, it will also offer a dine-in option as and when the easing of Coronavirus lockdown restrictions allow.

The post also suggests that the group plans to open more sites in the coming weeks and months. 

Coqfighter, which was founded by friends Deacon Rose, Troy Sawyer and Tristan Clough in 2014, has proactively sought to both maintain and expand operations throughout the pandemic. 

Prior to the shutdown, it operated two Boxpark sites in Croydon and Shoreditch; and a full-service restaurant on Beak Street in Soho.

Having been forced to stop operating a delivery service from its two Boxpark locations back in March, and deciding it was best to keep the Soho site closed for the duration of the lockdown, the team initially begun looking to expand Coqfighter’s delivery reach across the capital by utilising commercial kitchen spaces left empty by the Coronavirus shutdown.

As well as permanently securing the Brockley site, they have also begun operating temporarily out of a prep kitchen site in Hackney Wick; the St Leonards kitchen in Shoreditch; and a pub kitchen in Finsbury Park. 

Speaking to BigHospitality back in April, Rose said: “After the lockdown happened, we saw two obvious options: either we batten down the hatches and ride it out; or we be proactive and take some risks. We chose the latter."

Rose added at the time that Coqfighter would be attempting to open a dark kitchen site every week until the end of June, however, this latest opening suggests the business may now be pivoting away from that strategy.