When asked about her ambition for Seoul Bird, Jody Joo’s Korean fried chicken restaurant concept, the chef and TV personality is more candid than most.

“A few sites, hopefully a franchise, and then an exit strategy - that’s the dream!” she said, speaking last week at MCA’s Food to Go conference.

The Korean-American’s straight-to-point summary was in contrast to the usual more British reserve of founders when describing their growth plans.

A former Wall Street banker, she told the conference she started the fast-casual concept after becoming frustrated with the slim margins of her other more upscale venture, Jinjuu in Soho.

Expressing optimism in the post-pandemic landscape, Joo said Seoul Bird’s expansion plans had inevitably been slowed down, but that she believes innovation is the way forward.

“We’re looking for spaces where we have captive footfalls. I’m not going to go smack in the centre of Soho, I want to go to malls, train stations, airports… so basically people have no choice but to eat at my place.”

Seoul Bird has two sites in London, with Birmingham coming next. Plans for growth plans rely on Joo’s belief that Korean fried chicken can appeal to anybody and everybody. At Canary Wharf, the restaurant serves office workers and residents, while their Westfield London site attracts shoppers. The brand will target Birmingham’s student population next.

The size of the Canary Wharf site means the business could add more items to the menu. On the flip side, similarly large locations can be hard to find, which means trimming down the menu. As Joo says, she and her partner and COO Andrew Hales are on the constant lookout for ways to evolve.

The pair have worked on Seoul Bird together for 12 years now. While Hales is in charge of day-to-day operations, both are passionate about the brand and believe in its offering.

They want to give customers the opportunity to do everything digitally. Allowing them to order online means giving them the chance to do things like choose the language in which they order. This goes a long way in building a community of loyal customers.

Joo is keen to experiment further with tech, mentioning robots are now being used to fry chicken in Korea.

“The process and operations are the way of the future. The more you can take human error out of it, the better,” she said.

Dark kitchens are another integral part of Seoul Bird’s expansion, allowing the brand to enter new markets with comparatively less capital expenditure. At dine-in sites, the increased focus on delivery after the pandemic meant new logistical issues.

The brand does a lot of delivery out of the Canary Wharf site, but not Westfield. Joo explains couriers aren’t keen on picking up deliveries from Westfield because the location is a 10-minute walk into the mall. Seoul Bird is lobbying Westfield to let couriers to park their bikes elsewhere.

Another space for constant innovation is the menu itself. Both Joo and Hales have backgrounds as chefs and have travelled to Korea several times together.

“We’re bringing that ‘cheffiness’ to the brand, that commitment to flavour and quality,” Joo said.

With a small menu centred on one key offering, the brand is a “one-trick pony, or one-trick chicken,” as Joo terms it.

Seoul Bird isn’t just fried chicken, it’s Korean fried chicken. Joo is quick to make that distinction, and even quicker to say their USP doesn’t mean it is niche. Families enjoy the tater tots, while young people love the salads.

With Korean culture and cuisine gaining more popularity, Joo sees Korean options popping up on more and more menus – but she says few get it right. Seoul Bird is committed to marketing themselves as an authentically Korean brand. Along with fried chicken, their menu features a range of rice bowls, jap chae, and salads.

“We’re Seoul Bird, not just a fried chicken brand doing a Korean sauce,” Joo adds.