Derry's newest street food takeaway a 'pure' family affair

Pure Bird is open for takeaway with delivery to be available shortly and, as the name suggests, they cook primarily chicken dishes as well as some vegan and vegetarian options.

The couple, who have three children, first met while working in the Redcastle Hotel, where Nadia worked in the bar and Ronan worked in the kitchen. Derry man Ronan now has over 20 years experience working in a range of different establishments so the couple felt this was the right time to open their own place.

Nadia, who is from Moville, said: “We were living over in London a few years ago and we were going around the weekends to different food places and the street food markets and we were just trying everything. We came across a couple of chicken places and we thought they were really cool, that it’s a really good idea.

"We moved back to Derry, then, and when I had our youngest boy, we got a shipping container out in Maydown and we started collecting second-hand equipment and whatever we could get, with the idea that we would open our own place at some point. Eventually, we came upon this place.

"We knew it was going to be a lot of work to get it how we wanted it but it was a now or never situation. We’re in our late 30s and early 40s and we have three kids. My youngest just started primary one, so this really felt like the right time. I have enough energy and time to devote to it and Ronan just got to the stage where he wanted to do his own thing.”

Nadia and Ronan loved the chicken places they visited in London, Manchester and Liverpool and thought it was a ‘fun, quirky idea’ and the sort of place that Derry needed. They have a limited menu for lunch and dinner at the minute and the couple are delighted with how it’s been going so far.

“We thought that we would focus on one thing and do it really well. That way, it's more about the flavourings and the accompaniments and everything that goes along with it as opposed to trying to do everything. It gave us an opportunity to use really fresh food with homemade dips and we've been really pleased so far. Of course, it was scary opening the doors for the first time because we had been working on this for two years and this is our big chance to go at it in full steam. We wanted to be able to say that no matter what happened, we put everything into it.”

Pure Bird officially opened at the end of May and Nadia says it has been going great so far.

“We were so happy and so grateful because we didn't know whether three people were going to come in or 300. It was a really nice event then because we got a balloon arch and our kids came up after school and it was a nice family event. The kids were really excited about it because they've been behind us for so much of it and were practically living in here while we got the work done! They were so glad to actually finally see it open.

"I want to thank everyone who has helped us out so far and everyone who has eaten here. We have put so much into this place and we’ve been working on the opening for the past two years so it’s a dream come true to be here today.”

Pure Bird is open Wednesday and Thursday, 4pm – 9pm and Friday and Saturday 4pm – 10pm. For more information, follow them on social media.