There isn't much that could persuade us to leave our nice warm houses in this weather but the promise of good fried chicken, hip-hop beats and soft service ice cream definitely does the trick. Hidden behind a spray-painted door in the middle of Derby Road, Mollis is Nottingham's newest addition to the food scene.
The new restaurant is the creation of Michelin Star chef, Alex Bond, who also owns Alchemilla next door. Mollis is a complete change from the atmosphere and food of Alchemilla with its street art-covered walls painted by some of Nottingham's best-known street artists.
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While the menu promises 'the best-fried chicken you've ever had', it also boasts an impressive and unusual take on a classic dish. Menu options such as Gochujang buffalo and blue cheese, pineapple or Chimochurri with fresh herbs, charcoal butter with quince chutney or sea buckthorn nahm jim, fermented cabbage.
"We wanted to do something that was more casual and with this being next door, if it didn't happen here then it wouldn't happen anywhere. It seemed to make sense and I love fried chicken and soft-serve ice cream so I wanted to do something with those things. It's another side of what I do as life doesn't revolve around fine dining," Alex explained.
The restaurant construction hasn't been easy with extensive renovations that only became apparent during building works. The premises had been a former Chinese takeaway and still had flats above which needed a lot of work, and funding.
Alex chose to open a funding bid to the public to back the extensive construction that Mollis would need to get it open. The public responded instantly choosing to back the project which Alex admits blew him away.
"It was bonkers as I launched it by accident. I had it ready and queued up to go at a certain time but then I accidentally hit the button to push it out live at 11:30 on a Saturday night thinking it was ready for Monday. I thought, let's see what this can do," he said.
"I had my kids on Sunday morning and we were out without phones so when I checked later that day it was on eight grand already. It was over a third of the total by 5 pm that afternoon so we pushed it and three days later it was on 80 per cent."
He added: "We were blown away and it was absolutely nuts. I've said a hundred times that without that it simply wouldn't have happened. That's no exaggeration as it's getting money at the moment is not easy. You can't just pop into the bank to ask for a thousand grand.
The menu is a collection of different dishes inspired by recipes and ingredients from all over the world. Unusual choices an make use of includes gochujang fermented chilli paste from Korea or chimichurri sauce which is used in a lot of South American cooking.
"The menu is exactly what it is, that it's fried chicken and soft serve ice cream, so we didn't deviate from that. It's essentially something from five continents which is how we looked at it. I love fried chicken, even the stuff that has been in a glass box in a kebab shop for three hours, it's still nice," Alex explained.
"There are only three flavours of fried chicken like buffalo, southern fried or Korean. It's really limited which is weird considering every country in the world has a chicken dish. So for the first menu, we chose North America, South America and Europe which is obviously a complete minefield of different things."
He added: "We also chose Southern and Eastern Asia so created dishes from those five. We do take on South American with really fresh herbs like oregano, coriander, garlic, ginger, lemon and chilli."
The menu is not all about the spice as dishes have been planned out to make sure there is a balance. There are also options such as a classic caesar chicken and a European-inspired cauliflower and cheese dish.
For the opening week, Alex invited all of the backers for Mollis to come and sample the menu. The backers' response was overwhelmingly positive and it took several nights to accommodate everyone.
"We've had to do a few nights because we had about 300 people and it's been a riot. It's been nuts so far but there are tweaks that we want to make which is the point of a soft opening. You can iron out the creases and we made sure to do a staff night, too," he said.
When it comes to future moves, Alex is keen to let Mollis settle in but has thought about potentially opening other branches of it in other places. He would like to see new teams and street artists put together in different cities to create the relaxed atmosphere of Mollis elsewhere.
"It needs time to settle itself in but I don't see why it couldn't be rolled out. Alchemilla couldn't go anywhere else as that's our identity now next door and I couldn't replicate it because it just wouldn't work," he said.
"When it comes to Mollis, whatever place you are in, you could put together a local team there. Because this is our city, this is Notts and how many people know Small Kid or Boaster? Their art is everywhere in the city."
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