THE owner of a fried chicken restaurant in Taunton has secured a spot in the final of this year’s Street Food Championships in London. 

Eat the Bird owner Dan Aldridge, who opened his first restaurant at Coal Orchard in April 2017, will travel to the capital in November for the cookery competition, organised by Dine Out and Ooh magazines. 

He will have to cook a signature dish and complete a technical challenge using ingredients provided by a sponsor, before taking on a chicken wings round – something Dan knows a thing or two about having tasted success at the Wing Fest national competitions. 

Dan will cook a Korean-inspired burger as his signature dish, which combines Eat the Bird's fried chicken coated in a sticky sweet barbecue sauce with an umami-filled seaweed crack seasoning, homemade kimchi and ssamjang mayo.

Somerset County Gazette: Dan’s signature dish will be a Korean-inspired fried chicken burger.Dan’s signature dish will be a Korean-inspired fried chicken burger. (Image: Eat the Bird)

“The idea for Eat the Bird started from within a humble streetfood trailer nearly 10 years ago now and this burger has been with us since then,” said Dan.

“It will be such an honour to get up to London and put it up against the best in the industry. I love the street food scene.

“It’s a corner of the industry where some of the biggest creatives and unsung heroes in the world of hospitality grind it out day to day.

“I have massive respect for everyone who trades in all weathers, lugs around their heavy equipment and basically builds a kitchen before trading their butts off every day.”

Dan will be looking to show off his wing-cooking prowess in round three having scooped 12 awards at this year’s national Wing Fest showdowns. 

He said: “We’ve won numerous awards this year for our buffalo sauce, so I’ll be taking that up to London in November to splash on our wings and hopefully bring back another prize.”

Eat the Bird now operates restaurants in Exeter (Sidwell Street) and Cardiff (St Mary Street) following its successful launch in Taunton. 

The Street Food Championships will take place on Tuesday, November 7 at Big Penny Social in London.