BARI – It is the first example of a chicken bar in the South, one of the few in Italy. «Il Gallo Matto» opens in Bari, a new format that combines the speed of fast food with the quality and refinement of the ingredients, between informality, taste and simplicity.
The idea comes from two cousins from Bari, Dario and Francesco: the first entrepreneur in the energy sector, the second who has always been in the culinary sector, the two have brought to their city a format that they observed on their travels around Europe. «The idea came to us a year and a half ago. Since then we have looked at other examples of chicken bars in Holland, Germany and France, taking inspiration for our business. Then we found this place in Bari that we like so much.”
The restaurant is located in Largo Giordano Bruno, one of the busiest areas of Umberto’s nightlife. «Il Gallo Matto wants to transform a simple dish into a great dish – explains Dario Aspromonte, one of the founders of the business -. For years this type of format has exploded in Europe, but not in Italy. Here we have the simple poultry formula. We have combined a common menu within everyone’s reach, the kind that can also be found in fast food restaurants, with a type of preparation that no one uses. All our chicken is processed for approximately 24 hours, for twelve hours in brine, then seven hours at low temperature, then it is transformed into cutlets, rotisserie, sliced etc. In short, we are trying to transform a simple dish into something truly innovative, using techniques that would cost a lot in a gourmet restaurant. Here the prices are cheap.”
Il Gallo Matto also offers formulas for aperitifs, with cocktails specifically designed to accompany the chicken recipes. It wouldn’t be called a “chicken bar” otherwise. The chickens, Aspromonte reassures, «are Italian and carefully selected of the best quality, raised on the ground and without the use of antibiotics».
After having traveled a lot, the two cousins, friends and partners by choice, have in short «felt the call of Bari, a city that we love and which has so much to offer – continues Dario – which calls us back even when we have betrayed it for others, which takes us back to our childhood dreams and still moves us by its beauty.” Il Gallo Matto opens this evening.
