Wish Bone

Husband and wife duo Gregory Llewellyn and Naomi Hart opened their fast-casual eatery Wish Bone in April 2018, serving the fried chicken they made famous at their original Hartsyard six years ago – which they famously took off the menu in 2017.

The menu only offers fried chicken and what should be eaten with it, from sides to sauces such as hot sauce, smoked maple syrup and white sauce. The choice of sides includes classic North American dishes such as Llewellyn’s favourite, mac’n’cheese, as well as biscuits and gravy and poutine: a Canadian dish of fries covered in gravy and clumps of melted cheese curd. There’s also a Japanese variation made with shitake mushroom, gravy, seaweed and cheese. There’s also a chicken sandwich.

But don’t expect to be eating your fried chicken from baskets. Instead it’s served on white china and with cutlery.

Their “fast and slick” approach applies to the drinks list, too. There’s no bar or bartender – instead, the tables run down the centre of the room and the waitstaff pull out pre-batched cocktails from the fridges that line one side of the venue. There's the Hey Y’all (Southern-style hard ice tea) and the 2Sexy (gin, lemon thyme, watermelon shrub and pomelo), and Bourbon slushies, spritz on tap and tinnies such as Old Milwaukee. A small selection of interesting wines rounds out the list.

The space doesn’t look anything like when it was The Gretz, which the couple also owned. There’s a nod to the motoring world, with wishbone suspensions used to support the tables and tool chests converted into service stations. The motoring influence comes from business partners and long-time friends, Marty Mulholland and Blair Joscelyne, who are also the guys behind one of Australia’s biggest Youtube success stories, Mighty Car Mods.