Pyrmont's Whirly Bird joins wave of chicken joints to hit Sydney

Has Sydney gone a little bird-brained for chicken concepts?

From Morgan McGlone's Belles Hot Chicken to Luke Mangan's Chicken Confidential, the city is in the midst of a fowl uprising.

The chicken-leaning Suburbia just opened in Manly, adding to pioneers such as Thirsty Bird in Potts Point and Surry Hills's home of peanut butter chicken, the Chicken Institute.

Anthony Prior, owner of Pyrmont's recently opened Whirly Bird restaurant, believes one of the reasons behind the boom is Sydneysiders' ''relationship'' with chicken has improved.

"It used to be the option on menus you didn't order because you could have it at home," Prior says.

The restaurateur is even toying with offering a chicken degustation down the track.

"The chef was talking about wanting to do a fowl-free Friday, but there's so much you can do with chicken, duck and vegetable dishes," he says.

Chef Justin North, who came within a tail feather of opening a chicken restaurant a few years ago in Mosman, believes the success of some overseas chicken ventures had helped fuel the fire.

"You can deep fry it, it can come off the rotisserie, or you can poach it," he says.

And North believes the chicken movement still has legs.

"It's in the middle (of its cycle). There's still a lot to come."