Summer Takes Flight – Bird Noosa

Image source: Photographer Ian Waldie

Chase the summertime memories of good food and good company. Georgia Beard discovers how to recreate holiday comfort and ease with humble yet hearty meals.

When we reminisce about childhood summers, our memories are inextricably tied to food. Remember picnics at the beach or the extended family gathering around the dining table for holiday meals? 

If you were young enough, you’d be exiled to the kids’ table in the corner. The day would be devoted to passing around plates cold meats and tossed salad, lathering slices of bread with too much butter, fighting your siblings for the last juicy chicken wing… 

There was something unforgettably innocent about coming together over those basic and delicious meals.

Nowadays, we can find a lot of much-needed joy in those comfort foods and coming together to break bread and tuck into fresh salads and juicy roast chicken.

Revisit your delicious memories with Bird, the hole-in-the-wall takeaway bar serving up charcoal chicken that’s simple yet sensational. 

Deliciously uncomplicated, locally-sourced and always fresh, Bird’s menu puts modern flavour into classic food and reinvents the humble chicken shop.

Think free range charcoal chickens, rotisserie-baked potatoes, artisan baguettes, store-tossed salads with the best locally-sourced ingredients and a fine selection of wines. From their rotisserie kitchen stashed away in Arcadia Street, Peter and Chris Degotardi have been dishing out meals as lovely as a homemade roast since opening a few months ago. 

Now, the owners are extending their takeaway services just in time for Christmas. They’ll take the stress out of family cook-ups with a spread of fresh birds, salads, finger sandwiches and more. All you have to do is pick it up and lay it out on your dining table or picnic rug. This is takeaway fit for an occasion. 

Served straight off the ever-turning rotisserie, Elgin Valley chickens come succulent and smokey from a bed of locally-sourced mangrove charcoal. They are the centrepiece of your dining table, drawing all guests to their seats by the smouldering scent alone. 

Plant your roast birds in a garden of locally-grown greens and reds – the most festive colours of the season! Chris makes the salads in store, tossing the sweetness of Noosa Red tomatoes with crisp leaves, cucumbers and radishes for extra crunch. 

Then break bread with rustic sourdough baguettes from Tanglewood Organic Bakery or shrink the chicken experience to bite size portions with Birds signature finger sandwiches. 

Chris says the business offers a personalised takeaway service, varying their salads for the Christmas period or creating custom salad mixes for your get-togethers. But their chickens, the core of this birdhouse, will always stay the same.

“Come and get your chicken, whether you make your own salads to go with it or whether you have our potatoes and salad,” she says. “Make it a whole feast without having to cook.”

“You can take it for a picnic. Take it to the river. Take it to the beach. But then you can expand on it. You can have a beautiful dinner.”

“There’s nothing better in summer than sitting outside and somebody turning up with our big chicken box and putting it all out on platters. And you don’t have to lift a finger! You just have to drive here and pick it up.”

Return to those timeless meals these summer holidays, exquisite in their simplicity. Whether you’re hosting a family gathering or you’re a guest in need of a platter, touch down at Bird to grab what will be the best dish in the house. 

Simple and delicious, make this summer a memorable one.


Top Tips for Easy Entertaining:

1. Don’t waste away in the kitchen, and don’t resort to supermarket cheapies either! Instead, buy a flock from Bird for a gourmet-level feast.

2. Europeans always have a chicken in the fridge, Chris says. Follow their lead and turn your bird into a fridge essential so you never run out of easy, go-to lunches.

3. Pair your humble fare with a lavish white wine to surprise your taste buds. 

4. Stay green with bamboo, stoneware or earthenware crockery! 

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