We’ve had burgers from Mark Wahlberg and chicken wings from Rick Ross, and now there’s another celeb-backed restaurant heading to the UK – Sweet Chick. What’s it like being a father here? Over the past few holiday seasons, he’s also hosted toy giveaways at the housing project where he grew up. John Seymour, founder of Sweet Chick, grew up in a house with some pretty bland food. Sweet Chick, the New York chicken and waffles restaurant backed by rapper Nas, makes its London debut.. Raised in New York as a child of Irish immigrants, the Sweet Chick founder John Seymour grew up on stews and roasts. “We take the food very seriously,” Seymour says. John Seymour: I have been around the hospitality business my whole life. WSWD: How did you come up with the concept behind Sweet Chick? Sweet Chick restaurateur, John Seymour, sits down with “No Sleeping In The Trophy Room” host Los Antonio for another quarantine edition of the show. State of Mind,” “The World Is Yours.” It’s the type of party that those who were there will never forget, and if we do, we can always look at Nas’s Instagram. Last week, North Brooklyn restaurateurs John Seymour (Pop's) and Sam Saleh (Swallow Café) opened Sweet Chick, a casual southern restaurant on Bedford Avenue in … In the back space of the restaurant—dubbed the Jazz Room as a nod to Nas’s father, musician Olu Dara—Nas grabs a mic and performs a few classics: “Street Dreams,” “N.Y. “The moment I walked in, I knew it was something I wanted to be involved in,” Nas says. Last night, rapper Nas and business partner John Seymour brought their New York restaurant, Sweet Chick, to Fairfax Avenue. What Should We Do?! John Seymour talks his Sweet Chick business, Governor Cuomo, and New Yorkers’ strength during COVID-19. “So to have a restaurant here, it’s surreal.”. “There’s a sense of family at each one of the restaurants. He shared a picture; the quality is fine, and there aren’t any typos in the caption. “This is like a dream,” Nas says of the restaurant’s arrival in his home borough. I have always wanted it to be a cultural hub for people from all walks of life. John Seymour is the man behind the down-home hot spot. Seymour: The benefit of opening a business in the city you grow up in is that you have the hometown support, but the feeling of running a successful restaurant in New York is unreal. It’s about creating community, and the fact that some celebrities have embraced that is amazing. After-school hangs with his father, a bartender, meant homework time was fuelled by homemade burgers consumed barside. I started bartending in nightclubs all over New York in my 20s, and I ventured out to open my first spot—Pop’s—at 28. WSWD: What do you like doing with your daughters in New York City? The chicken and waffle restaurant founded by John Seymour and backed by Nas is to take over the Carluccio’s site … Over the next few months, we built a friendship, and Nas really understood the core values of the brand. This atmosphere, or “vibe,” as Nas and Seymour call it, is as intentional as it is organic. The Coveteur, Coveteurs, and Coveteur'd are trademarks of The Coveteur Inc. What’s it like running a business in the city you grew up in? The first week [in Prospect Heights] had hour-long waits to get in for brunch and dinner. He first broke into the restaurant business with Pop’s in Williamsburg in 2007, but blew up the chicken and waffle game with the first Sweet Chick on Williamsburg’s Bedford Avenue in 2013. its take on modern American comfort food across five locations in New York, LA and now London. Sweet Chick, a New York City restaurant specializing in chicken and waffles, has teamed with local rap legend Nas to help boost the brand to the national stage. Seymour’s go-to is the Nashville hot chicken. You did it! Founded in Brooklyn by restaurateur John Seymour in 2013, and backed by rapper Nas, Sweet Chick serves. Pin. For a moment, the conversation turns to Instagram, which is how many follow Nas’s work and life. “We do a summer camp with the kids from Queensbridge every year,” he says. Consider Your Week Planned: January 25–31, Consider Your Week Planned: January 18–24. John Seymour is the founder of Sweet Chick, New York’s famed chicken and waffles chain. The Williamsburg launch was followed by openings on the Lower East Side, Prospect Heights, and Citi Field in NYC, as well as a restaurant in L.A. On any given night, you can catch an enthused clientele—which sometimes includes Cameron Diaz, Dave East, Andre 3000, and Zendaya—enjoying executive chef Lawrence Duda’s duck and short rib meatloaf, macaroni and cheese topped with a Ritz cracker crust, or of-the-moment dishes like seitan vegetarian fried chicken or the warm farro bowl. WSWD: East Coast versus West Coast menu time. Seymour: It was very different than it is today, but the culture that the city has to offer is still unparalleled. With a blend of New York’s flair and Southern-hospitality, we caught up with the restaurant’s founder, John Seymour, for a quick chat about everything Sweet Chick. John Seymour and Nas Sweet Chick [Official Photo] Nas, whose full name is Nasir Jones, is among the world’s recognised rap artists, catapulting to stardom in 1994 at the age of 19 with the seminal album, Illmatic. WSWD: You’re also a family man with three kids. While Sweet Chick may be Nas’s most publicized foray in the neighborhood, it isn’t his first. It was honestly one of the most organic business moves I have ever made; it just clicked. John Seymour - A Sweet Chick Life. Gourmet chicken & waffles star at this hip, down-home Southern comfort-food resource with cocktails. Sweet Chick opened its first location on Bedford Ave in 2013 and the success warranted opening a second location in Manhattan’s Lower East Side a year and a half later. If you’ve had the pleasure of eating at Sweet Chick—whether it be the Lower East Side, Williamsburg, or Prospect Heights (or Los Angeles)—you know its fried chicken is a winner. Local Stories. Sweet Chick is more than just chicken and waffles, its a vibe, John Seymour Says The Source SOURCE EXCLUSIVE: SHEPARD FAIREY TALKS MERGING ART & TECHNOLOGY WITH … 28.5k Followers, 1,906 Following, 1,082 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from JOHN SEYMOUR (@johnseymour_nyc) “He was the local guy who everybody knew, so with Sweet Chick, it was me being nostalgic about how he built a community around the bar.”. Thanks for joining our newsletter list. “My hospitality background really comes from my father being a bartender,” says Seymour, who grew up on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. We have built the CADET brand on being local, quality and with a devotion to our craft. The restaurant just opened in Queens—and we were there first. John Seymour - A Sweet Chick Life Posted by Brad Schmidt on May 29, 2014. WSWD: What’s currently on the playlist at Sweet Chick? Back in July, Sweet Chick and Num Pang teamed up for a pork belly-topped fried chicken sandwich.Now, the John Seymour- and Nas-helmed chicken and waffles restaurant is … By Marcy Medina on April 7, 2017 Share This Article The Restaurateur Couple We Want to Be When We Grow Up Our Favorite Spots for Brunch in NYC This New NYC Restaurant Is Almost Impossible to Get Into. When he isn’t on the block, you can find John cooking Sweet Chick’s classic dishes on National TV networks or at his Williamsburg home with his wife and three daughters. He is a big fan of Sweet Chick, and we started to discuss the possibilities of what Sweet Chick could be in the future. But the West Coast has the breakfast burrito with fried chicken and it has this duck–short rib sandwich that is crack (probably have to bring that to New York soon!). It’s the Saturday afternoon before the opening, and Nas and Seymour are in a booth at the new space, reflecting on the significance of its location. You’ll find Sweet Chick at 8 Market Place, Fitzrovia, W1W 8AG. There’s only a few left like John Seymour, owner of Sweet Chick, the Big Apple’s current favorite destination for ol’ fashioned chicken & waffles. Seymour, who also owns and operates Caribbean restaurant Pearl’s with his wife, Fallon, opened the first Sweet Chick in Williamsburg in 2013. WSWD: You just opened up your fourth location in Prospect Heights. The Journal. “I don’t think my Instagram competes with everybody else’s; everybody else’s is so well done, and that’s my inspiration, but mine ends up looking like a scrapbook,” he says, adding that the best pictures are often selected for him. A few hours after our interview, Sweet Chick LIC is dimly lit and packed with friends and family who have come to celebrate this special homecoming. A New York City-based chicken chain is taking on a new business model since reopening during the pandemic. The support for what we are doing is unreal. Today we’d like to introduce you to John Seymour. “Most of us have a dream to do something in the community, but we never get a chance to because we get so busy,” Nas continues, “so yeah, this is a dream.”. 00:49:15 - Today my guest is John Seymour, the CEO and restauranteur of Lil’ Sweet Chick.He joins us from New York. Like all of us in the restaurant indus… His intuition was correct. However, just outside his front door, were New York City’s diners. © 2010-2017 The Coveteur Inc. All Rights Reserved. I am honored to have worked with them on the project and am so happy that it was done the right way. Sweet Chick, a full-service brand created seven years ago in Brooklyn by New York native, restaurateur and entrepreneur John Seymour, just got a make "under." He first broke into the restaurant business with Pop’s in Williamsburg in 2007, but blew up the chicken and waffle game with the first Sweet Chick on Williamsburg’s Bedford Avenue in 2013. The New York native and Brooklyn-based chef John Seymour to open a Sweet Chick restaurant in Los Angeles later this month. Soon after, the CEO of Nas’s Mass Appeal record label, Peter Bittenbender, introduced the rapper and the restaurateur on a hunch that they’d want to team up to elevate and expand the brand. Seymour: I had always loved the cult following that chicken and waffles had, and realized no one was specializing in it in New York City. John Seymour is the man behind the down-home hot spot. #44: John Seymour Wants Sweet Chick To Help Redefine New American Comfort Food: "You might catch me at Roscoe's at 4 AM," he says, "but what we do at Sweet Chick is different." Soon after, the CEO of Nas’s Mass Appeal record label, Peter Bittenbender, introduced the rapper and the restaurateur on a hunch that they’d want to team up to elevate and expand the brand. Well, it involves a lot of chicken, waffles, and great playlists. WSWD: How did Nas come into the Sweet Chick picture? The beauty of New York is that you don’t have to make plans; we just hang out with whomever we run into and let the day unfold. One of the core values of Sweet Chick is to make it more than just a restaurant. The diners were where John really developed his palette by trying some of America’s most delicious food. Today, John Seymour's food staples (and palette) have realigned. WSWD: How does it feel knowing that your chicken and waffles have gotten a lot of hype and a lot of celebrity fans? We also discuss how those efforts translate into survival in tough times like these. Oh, yeah, it’s mandatory to play Biggie’s “Juicy” once a night. Music, Seymour said, has always been important to him and the Sweet Chick … It feels like home, and that’s what I really like.”. From humble beginnings as a doorman in his teens, to bouts with addiction, John’s managed to navigate obstacle after obstacle. What changed between the coasts, and what’s your favorite Sweet Chick creation/dish? Plates of their signature chicken and waffles were served by the dozens, diners debated between biscuits or corn bread (some ended up getting both), and drinks were poured at a bar illuminated with a neon sign proclaiming, “The World Is Yours.”. Brooklyn Restaurateur John Seymour Brings Sweet Chick to Los Angeles April 06, 2017, 6:10pm Since launching his always-buzzing Brooklyn location in 2013, Seymour has opened four more Sweet Chick outposts, one in Los Angeles, and three in his native New York (the most recent opened earlier this year in Queens with help from the rapper Nas). We only have the slushy in L.A. and people in New York are not happy about it at all. John Seymour has successfully managed to balance being a father to three daughters, husband, and restauranteur through trials and tribulations. Seymour: All of our core items are on both menus, so of course they are all bomb. Chef John Seymour, co-owner of the Sweet Chick restaurants, stops by TODAY to serve up a delicious fillet of sole with lemon, butter and asparagus. Here, John Seymour of N.Y.C’s Sweet Chick gives us his recipe for mac and cheese. Seymour: I’m honestly blown away with the response. A self-proclaimed “super foodie” (who says he can’t cook), Nas is partial to the buffalo fried chicken with the celery-carrot waffle. As it turns out, Nas is one of the partners at Mass Appeal, and Peter mentioned Nas could be interested. Meet John Seymour of Sweet Chick in Los Angeles, West Hollywood and Fairfax District. A plate linked to the South, its origins can be traced to the African-American jazz clubs of New York's Harlem. John Seymour opened the first Sweet Chick location in Williamsburg in 2013. March 7, 2019. Occupying a site near Oxford Circus, Sweet Chick London is the first international branch of Nas and John Seymour's fried chicken restaurant. Tweet. Arguably the greatest rapper of all time and the co-founder held a private party at the restaurant to introduce media, family, and friends to the new restaurant. “I want people to come in for chicken and waffles but look over at someone’s plate and be like, ‘Oh wow, what are they eating?’ because that person could be having short rib, or catfish, or braised octopus.”. John, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. Sweet Chick, the cult chicken and waffle restaurant hailing from New York City. : At what age did you decide you wanted to be in the restaurant business? As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the five-unit brand is evolving into a fast casual model and will be known as, "Lil' Sweet Chick." Share. “I used to race my bike down this street, and when I got older, I’d take my dates down here to eat,” he says. The average New Yorker may have surveyed the scene and concluded that that it was a typical night in always-bustling NYC, but for Queens native Nasir Jones—known to most as prolific rapper Nas—and Sweet Chick founder John Seymour, it was much more sentimental. Right now, I’m just weighing the options and making sure we continue to provide the best to our guests and keep building relationships within our community. One of the most requested items has got to be the frozen slushies. Seymour and company serve up some of the best of American comfort food with a Brooklyn twist. Mac & Cheese is one of those side dishes that should be a game day staple. Read More. Don’t even get us started on the fried chicken Parmesan and the General (which comes with General Tso’s sauce), but even its veggie-forward rice and broccoli waffle with vegetarian chicken is delicious. Seymour: That was amazing. John Seymour is the CEO and restauranter of beloved Brooklyn-born re... staurants @sweetchicklife and @lilsweetchick, the new quick-service concept born out of Sweet Chick with locations in New York and Los Angeles. Seymour: One night the CEO of Mass Appeal, Peter Bittenbender, came into the restaurant and we started talking. Seymour: I love doing what I have always done in New York…so naturally I love to hang out with the kids outside the restaurants, talking to people and seeing where the day takes us. Do you have plans to revive this pop-up? Once I started investigating, I found that chicken and waffles actually originated in Harlem, and I knew we had to do it. Last night Sweet Chick opened the doors to its newest location in Long Island City on Vernon Boulevard. CADET is pleased to introduce a new monthly feature - HONORS. Today we discuss how to build a brand, culture and community. WSWD: What’s next for Sweet Chick? The competition and rent are at the highest levels in the country. Best of TODAY. At Sweet Chick, his New York-based fried-chicken joint, the hallmark dish is fried chicken and waffles drenched in maple syrup. “You can tell when I post a picture, because the quality isn’t so great and the caption might have a typo or two [laughs].”, Pre-Instagram—and pre- massive success—Nas spent a lot of time on the same block where Sweet Chick now sits. Seymour and company serve up some of the best of American comfort food with a Brooklyn twist. Error, please enter a valid email address. John Seymour of Sweet Chick seems to have cracked that code. 5 Ways to Have the Perfect Winter Saturday, How Our Staffers Are Prepping Their Wardrobes for the Winter, I Tried the Nasa-Backed Skin-Care Tool That’s Like an At-Home Collagen Injection, The Restaurateur Couple We Want to Be When We Grow Up, This New NYC Restaurant Is Almost Impossible to Get Into. ... INTERVIEW WITH SWEET CHICK'S JOHN SEYMOUR. 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