Behind the Taptail bar at Double Chicken Please on Manhattan’s Lower East Side
Double chicken please
Last week in Singapore, the World’s 50 Best Bars unveiled their annual list of… well, the 50 best bars in the world. High up among these drink temples was Double Chicken Please, a two-in-one draft and craft cocktail lounge on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Surpassed only by Sip in Barcelona, DCP now claims the title of not only the best bar in New York, but also the best bar in the entire Western Hemisphere.
The award caps a huge success for the three-year-old pub, which was previously named home of the world’s best cocktail menu at this year’s Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards. Much of this success can be attributed to Tako Chang, who is responsible for the bar’s marketing and communications.
The Taiwan native moved to New York in 2020 to help open DCP. And since then she has been instrumental in building the brand identity. But beyond her role there, Chang has also taken on the management of the room, boasting a dual role as manager of front-of-house operations. We recently sat down with the talented tastemaker to find out how she copes with such an intense schedule. And of course, where the bar’s unique name comes from.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tako Chang Manager of Brand Marketing and PR Communications at Double Chicken Please
Double chicken please
Okay, so…Double Chicken Please. What?!
Tako Chang: “GN Chan, one of our co-founders, is an industrial designer. He wanted to open a design studio. His nickname is Chicken Fillet. And he wanted to open it with his best friend, who goes by the nickname “Turkey.” So it’s like double poultry. And when they decided to open a bar, he said, why not “Double Chicken Please?” He had that name for many years – having come up with it six years ago when he was working as a street magician. And for people who don’t understand it, it’s always a conversation starter.”
How did you join the team?
TC: “GN and [co-founder] Faye Chen and I are all from Taiwan and have known each other for a long time. But beyond our personal friendship, we all share the same personal vision – the same values and the same goal when it comes to business ideas. GN focuses on the creative aspect while Faye handles operations, finances and manpower. We all wanted to do more than just a cocktail bar. This is actually more of a design project. And I wanted to be a part of it.”
What vision do you all share for this particular project?
TC: “We have three main pillars. The first pillar is of course hospitality – the guest experience. The second pillar is event curation. Do you see that Netflix has Netflix Original? That’s something we do too. We plan our events where we bring something more than just cocktails and put it in a package. And the third pillar is merchandise. We’re actually going to launch a number of products. We will have records and cocktail glasses and everything will tell a story that represents the brand. We want to make sure that when you come to Double Chicken Please, you take a piece of Double Chicken Please home with you into your everyday life.”
The back bar at Double Chicken Please
Double chicken please
Tell us more about event curation.
TC: “Every event we do, we have to bring a design element. If we ever want to do a popup, we’ll have to duplicate that feeling somewhere else. But we find it difficult to replicate this elsewhere. That’s why we don’t focus on pop-ups. We want to expand our industry. There needs to be a way in which art, design and drinks converge – cross-industry collaboration rather than guest shifts.
Is there anything concrete on the horizon?
TC: “We are working with KidSuper on a project in Los Angeles. We are very happy about it.”
How do you make sure your popular fried chicken sandwiches can keep up with the creativity of the cocktails?
TC: “We eat so much chicken. It is the only meat we have in our kitchen. And we are constantly expanding our menu. We just introduced a mochi donut sandwich. There is a strawberry glaze on top. And the fried chicken is coated in cornflakes. It is then garnished with coriander and homemade pickled pineapple. It is delicious.”
And are you involved in product development?
TC: “Of course. I make sure the flavor is right, the bread is right, and the sauce is right. Every now and then I also stand in line, fry the chicken sandwiches and put them together. Everything. That’s part of the guest experience, and that’s it , which is what I do – come back to whatever is on the floor. And how do we translate that into language that resonates with consumers and represents who we are? That’s my rule here. It’s very different than that, “What I’ve done before. I used to do corporate brand marketing. But this is hospitality branding. So it’s similar knowledge but completely different approaches. I love being consumer-focused.”
Double Chicken Please was just named the second best bar in the world by the World’s 50 Best
The 50 best bars in the world
Source : www.forbes.com