The team
Rhian came home to Llanelli in 2019 with a recipe on a whiteboard; Darren has run fryers for twenty years. Between them they joint every bird and taste every batch of seasoning.
Owner. The counter, the recipes, the students
Born in Llanelli, spent eight years cooking in restaurants in Cardiff and two in a fried chicken place in Bristol, and came home in 2019 to open the shop she wanted on Stepney Street. Wrote the brine, the seasoning and the three spice levels on a whiteboard that is still on the kitchen wall. Runs the counter, the student deals and the suppliers, and still joints birds on a Monday.
Head cook. The brine, the dredge, the fryers
Twenty years on fryers, from the Felinfoel chip shop his uncle ran to a pub kitchen in Swansea. Joined in 2019 and runs the kitchen: the brine goes on at two every afternoon for the next day, every piece is dredged twice by his hand or under his eye, and he changes the oil more often than the rules say. Will not let a box out that has sat for more than two minutes.
Stepney Street
Rhian was offered a franchise twice and said no both times: a franchise means frozen chicken, a coating from a sack and somebody else's colours. Crisp & Co is one shop, one farm and one recipe, in a former phone shop on the pedestrian part of Stepney Street, painted black and butter yellow because those were the colours she liked.
The riders are Callum and Josh, with Ellie on Friday and Saturday evenings. The seasoning is mixed on Mondays.
Finding the shopTwo pieces to ten, mild, hot or xtra, up to three sides: the box builder works it out before you ring. Fried when you order, about twelve minutes; delivery around Llanelli, free over £25.