By Elliot Leadbetter
A pop-up chicken wing shack in Leicester has opened their first physical shop in Narborough Road.
Plukd have spent 12 months testing their concept, participating in pop-up kitchens, kitchen takeover and street food events.
Now, a year on, Plukd has found a permanent home on Narborough Road, one of Leicester’s most prosperous areas when searching for fried chicken.
Owner, Justin Akpa feels they offer something different to the competitors in the area.
He said: “From sourcing our chicken, 
we aim to break the mould, so all of our chicken is ethically sourced from Red Tractor approved sources.
“The reason behind this is because we believe a happier chicken is a tastier chicken.”
Their wings are hand rubbed with a unique blend of herbs and spices before being twice fried to make them extra crispy.
They are then topped in a choice of homemade sauces, ranging from Oh Carolina to Wing Sting – which isn’t for the faint hearted.
Justin added: “We deliver restaurant quality food as a takeaway concept so that’s what makes us different, there is artistry to what we do.”
As a trained chef Justin knows his way around the kitchen.
He has an impressive list of previous employment in 5-star hotels and Michelin star restaurants, such as The Ivy, Kilworth House Hotel and Stoke Park.
Although, Plukd is his first solo venture, he is already delighted with its performance.
He said: “I was working on a small budget so I had to do a lot of the manual work myself which was exhausting.
“I felt overwhelmed with relief and excitement as soon as the doors were open.
“So far we’re exceeding expectations, we’ve got a strong branding and a fantastic product, but I think the safest thing to do when starting up any business is to underestimate your turnover so you don’t find yourself in financial difficulties.
“For this reason we set modest targets early on but we’ve been exceeding those since the day we opened the doors.”
Plukd has also recently teamed up with a local home delivery service owlgetit.co.uk so you can now order chicken to be delivered straight to your door.
Justin had one final message for the fans of the Plukd pop-up events.
He said: “I just started negotiations on Thursday with an establishment on Braunstone Gate hopefully to host a pop-up event there and we should also hopefully be at events like Canteen in December.”
More information can be found out about Plukd at http://www.plukd.co.uk
