Cory Vitello is one smart dude. He knows what his customers want and he knew enough to reinvent himself.

People are looking for healthy, tasty food that doesn’t break the bank and that doesn’t take forever to eat. Really why aren’t more people using this concept of fresh, delicious and healthy food, it really is a no-brainer. Even easier, just use one main component and select add-ons to go with it. Cory decided to specialize in rotisserie chicken. Thus the birth of Flock – racks of slowly cooking chickens, naturally raised without hormones or antibiotics, rotate in the rotisseries, cooking them properly so they are still juicy, with a nice browned skin. Season-wise, they are overloaded with salt. Bravo, he has done it.

His fast, casual concept is devoted to rotisserie chicken and greens. He offers his chicken four ways: whole, halved, quartered or pulled. You can get your chicken in a sandwich or a salad. You can dine in or take out.

His Adelaide location at 330 Adelaide West focuses more on takeout, whereas his Harbord location, at 97 Harbord Street (at the former home of THR) has tables and banquets with an expanded menu with soups, desserts, wine and cocktails.

I tried the Flock Stock, which was a rich herb chicken broth and pulled chicken with slow-cooked vegetables, white beans and rapini. It was perfect on a cold day, and hurray, it wasn’t salty. Next, I tried a leg of the classic rotisserie chicken with chimichuri sauce. They also offered a Caribbean pepper sauce as well. The bird was nicely cooked, moist but on the small side. I ordered rotisserie sweet potatoes for my side. I like my sweet potatoes sweet, but these came with a chili lime salt that I didn’t care for. There are other nice selections of sides, such as; roasted Brussels sprouts and beets, mac and cheese, heirloom carrots, grilled rapini and broccoli, fries and grilled sourdough.

Flock offers five salads. I got the Fancy Flock which includes, shredded red Napa cabbage, grated raw coconut, spicy carrots, sliced radish, pea tendrils, wheat berries, mango, and mint leaves with a cashew, lime, coconut, jalapeño dressing. For a few dollars extra I can add, chicken, tuna, egg, or avocado. The other salad choices have interesting toppings too, like; quinoa, currants, pomegranate, goji berries, sunflower seeds, cauliflower, lentils, dried apricot, and so on, you get the picture. Eating healthy never tasted so good.

There were three dessert choices of brownie sundae, apple and blueberry crumble or key lime pie. I just came back from key lime pie central in Florida, so I was a little hesitant to try it, but I have to admit that they did a fine job with it. The filling had just the right balance of sweet and tart. The graham cracker and coconut crust was really good.

The service was a touch on the slow side. Perhaps adding another waitstaff would correct this issue.

The space was minimally decorated, but was comfortable. It was function over fashion.
This is what people want – superfood ingredients, vibrant dressings, chicken that is locally-sourced and cooked well in an efficient amount of time. Presto, Cory Vitello has a hit on his hands with more locations to come.

Recommend.

Happy dining,
Shanea