An homage to the Australian dining culture of the 1970s, Extra Chicken Salt is the latest venture from the minds behind Chicco Palms, Pizza e Mozzarella Bar, Borsa Pasta Cucina and Chicken & Pig.

Peter De Marco missed out on the taste of the 1970s.

Born on the tail end of the decade, Peter heard the stories of the flared pants and the painfully bright colours borne out of the decade.

“I missed out on all of that,” he says.

“I really wanted to live it, and I grew up in the 1980s and saw a lot of it, but I never got to experience the 1970s, so I wanted to tap into that with Extra Chicken Salt.”

At the corner of Peel and Currie streets, Extra Chicken salt is a love letter to the 1970s.

Opening Wednesday, 16 December, the venue is reminiscent of a suburban chicken shop at the front, with a Miami bar feel at the back. A secret entrance through a fake cool room leads diners from the takeaway area into the dining section.

Miami bar vibes at the back

It is Peter and business partner Phillip Tropeano’s latest venture, alongside Chicco Palms, Pizza e Mozzarella Bar, Borsa Pasta Cucina and Chicken & Pig.

Rotisserie chicken is the staple menu item at the 210-seat restaurant and bar, with the rest of the dishes built around that, including some 70s culinary classics, such as chicken liver parfait and salmon gravlax. With COVID restrictions, he is allowed 100 people indoors and 20 outside. Once restrictions lift, 120 are allowed inside and 80 outside.

“What we are doing here is basically working on a more French-driven menu,” Peter explains.

“The inspiration is more when the cuisine came to SA and Australia and the time when those different foods got interacted to our local palates.

“We are going with some classics such as mussels with the cream and white wine, with some chips, and crumbed pork cutlet on the bone and marinated beef steak tomatoes, but our focus is heavily on the chicken dinner and having a nice chicken experience.”

Peter worked with a chicken farmer to raise corn-fed chickens, which produce a more appetising colour, taste and texture. He’s also spent $70,000 on a French-imported rotisserie that can cook the birds for longer at lower temperatures.

Above: Extra Chicken Salt’s dining room; Right: Peter De Marco

The two-level venue, designed by Peter alongside Black Rabbit architects, will double as a bar in the evenings. He says he wants to give people the chance to have a “cheap” night out.

“I always wanted to have a business with different layers – so I wanted to be able to do takeaway and have a dining room, and wanted people to have a good dining experience while also having a party straight after,” Peter says.

“I wanted it to be a location where people can spend the whole night there and they don’t have to relocate and find another place to go.”

Extra Chicken Salt is located at 38 Currie Street and officially opens on Wednesday, 16 December. The venue will operate 12pm ’til late, seven days.

Connect with Extra Chicken Salt via Facebook and Instagram.