Fraidoon Jamshed, an Alamo resident and 35-year Concord grocery store owner, is the owner of a new halal fried chicken restaurant near his grocery store: Chicken Thyme. (Courtesy Maya Niaz)
Fraidoon Jamshed first fell in love with fried chicken while working at a fried chicken shop in New York City in the 1980s.
The Alamo resident went on to launch a grocery store — International Foods — in Concord, which has kept him busy for the past 35 years. But he still kept thinking about that crispy poultry.
So he began recipe-testing. “I tried maybe 1,000 different recipes,” he says.
After two years of perfecting his recipe — which is MSG and dye-free, he notes — he came up with the perfect all-natural, easy-on-the-stomach recipe. In addition, all of the meat is halal.
“For fried food, you want it as healthy as possible, because the frying doesn’t help,” he says.
The menu offers an array of $10 meals, including a chicken tender sandwich, chicken and waffle combo, crispy wings, a tender wrap or chicken nuggets, to name a few options. The restaurant also has a signature thyme sauce, plus customizable levels of heat for each meal — classic, mild, hot and “blazin’.”
The restaurant is currently in its soft opening, with a grand opening expected in early September, Jamshed says.
Details: Open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily at 1114 Meadow Lane, Concord; chickenthyme.net.
Originally published at Kate Bradshaw