Turkey restaurant Strut & Cluck planned for Shoreditch
Strut & Cluck is the creation of Apostrophe founder Amir Chen and wife Limor, who are keen to make more of the overlooked meat by putting it centre-stage on their restaurant's menu.
Dishes will have an Eastern Mediterranean slant with the menu to include slow-roast turkey thigh on a bed of caramelised red onions and sweet potatoes; Josper-grilled turkey drumstick marinated in the family spice blend with roasted vegetables and herbs and a turkey sandwich using grilled sourdough with hand-pulled turkey.
Turkey will be sourced from selected farms in East Anglia with plans to marinate all meat for 24 hours using Eastern Mediterranean flavours.
Turkey evangelists
Amir, who developed the Apostrophe café business in the early 2000s before selling it to CH&Co last year, said the idea for a turkey-based restaurant was led by the meat's health benefits - as well as being lean it is rich in B12, zinc and selenium - and a desire to showcase it all year round, not just at Christmas.
"We are both healthy eaters and really care about the type of food we cook at home. Limor was never a big fan of chicken and started experimenting with turkey meat as a healthy alternative for the family," he said.
"Our background meant that we had no bias to have turkey only at Christmas or in the traditional way. The meat is full of lean protein, legs have more of a red-meat consistency, and, if cooked well, it absorbs herbs and spices particularly well. We shared our turkey dishes with family and friends who loved them, so eventually decided to spread the word.
"When talking to people about turkey meat it was clear they really wanted to love this superfood, but just didn’t know how to cook it, away from the usual Christmas fare, so we decided to become the turkey meat evangelists".
Prior to the permanent site opening next year, Strut & Cluck will launch a pop-up at Shoreditch House for Thanksgiving 2015, with a selection the Chens' turkey and sharing dishes available to members from 25th-28th November.
