New Cairns restaurant Howlin' Jays upsets LA food mag
So Cairns is getting a new restaurant.
Howlin’ Jay’s at the Pier run by James Burman will be an American themed restaurant specialising in "Nashville hot chicken".
Apparently, that’s a spicier, higher quality version of KFC.
Sounds good? Not so according to influential online foodie mag Eater Los Angeles.
The issue is that Howlin’ Jay’s sounds too much like the cult American eatery Howlin’ Ray’s, a place that has made a name for itself in Los Angeles with its hellishly hot fried poultry pieces. It’s also renowned for its hours-long queues.
And what does Howlin’ Ray’s serve up? Nashville hot chicken.
And the similarity goes even further.
Eater Los Angeles points out that the soon-to-open Cairns restaurant’s rooster logo and red coloured theme looks very much like to the iconic markings of the American original.
It points out there’s nothing illegal about what the Cairns restaurant is doing. It might just be a case of “ Australia serving their own version of Nashville hot chicken.”
Still, the similarity on both sides of the world has to be pointed out.
Mr Burman denied there were was any link between Howlin' Jays and Howlin' Rays".
"The story of the venue comes from a passion for American food and creating exciting dining experiences close to home," Mr Burman told Tropic Now.
"After visiting the States earlier this year and spending a good chunk of time in Music City Nashville soaking up the culture and eating too much fried chicken at the original Nashville hot chicken restaurant Prince's and also Bolton's Hot Chicken and Hattie B's to name a few, I was in love.
"There is something magical about sitting down with amazing hot chicken, loud music, new found friends and great craft beers.
"The venue is named after my father local born and bred in Cairns, James Burman who is known to go HOWLIN' around town with his rumbustious big personality.
"As for Jay's - that's a name he was called by his mother since birth. We also wanted to ensure our venues are different from one another yet still a link to our American-style burger restaurant JIMMYS Burger & Co. Working together as a J and J it only made sense.
"The venue will be one of the biggest fried chicken restaurants concepts around to cater for hundreds of people and incorporating many different dining and drinking areas.”
by Leon Gettler, May 24th 2017
