September has been a busy month for chef Viet Pham.

Earlier this month, he opened the fourth location of his Fairly Chook fried-chicken restaurant chain, in Midvale. And within the final week of the month, he’s scheduled to look on two completely different meals reveals on TV — and Fairly Chook will launch two new menu objects.

Pham will seem on “Smoked Out,” the primary episode of the brand new season of Hulu’s Cooks vs. Wild, by which he and one other chef are dropped into the wilderness. (The present is scheduled to begin streaming Monday, Sept. 26.) On Tuesday, Sept. 27, on the Meals Community, Pham will seem on the season premiere of Bobby’s Triple Menace, the place celeb chef and host Bobby Flay pits him towards “The Titans” for a correct fried rooster smackdown.

Pham, ever approachable and gracious, was so busy that when he returned The Tribune’s name, he was getting his automobile washed, and it was the one free second he had. That was in August, throughout the Midvale Fairly Chook’s comfortable opening. (The brand new location is at 7169 Bingham Junction Blvd. The chain’s different places are at 146 S. Regent St. in downtown Salt Lake Metropolis, 675 E. 2100 South in Sugar Home, and 1775 Prospector Ave., in Park Metropolis.)

With the opposite three Fairly Chook shops, Pham stated, they introduced the day of their comfortable opening, “and we actually simply received crushed,” he stated. “This time round, we didn’t announce it to anyone. We simply form of opened up our doorways and let individuals slowly are available. It was actually busy, regardless of not having introduced it, however to not the purpose the place we received crushed.”

Pham stated the unannounced comfortable opening was “an ideal studying expertise for our crew, and nice coaching. It was truly in all probability one among our smoothest openings that we’ve had.”

All 4 Fairly Chook eating places are completely different in design, he stated.

“The muse of Fairly Chook, the ideas, are constructed upon advantageous eating,” he stated. “So the way in which their kitchen is laid out, the move, the chef’s counter — it’s the small, advantageous particulars.”

The Midvale location, he stated, has a magenta ceiling that mimics the colour of the restaurant’s signature slaw. Solely later did they understand that crimson stimulates starvation. “We selected that coloration as a result of it was form of cool, however on the similar time it has its functions,” he stated.

The selection to open in Midvale, he stated, was straightforward: It’s the halfway level between Salt Lake Metropolis and Level of the Mountain — the place Salt Lake County meets Utah County — so it’s a fast drive for individuals additional south.

“After we first scouted it, there’s tons of growth, there’s residential growth,” Pham stated. “It’s proper subsequent to TopGolf. There’s a resort there. There’s quick access to the freeway. We couldn’t discover a higher place. And we’re tremendous completely happy to be part of town.”

As easy because the opening has been, there have been issues, principally associated to the availability chain in a post-pandemic world.

For instance, Pham stated, the restaurant remains to be ready for supply of an ice machine, which isn’t due till October. “Meaning we’re having to go to Costco every day and now we have to purchase roughly 14 to 16 baggage of ice and now we have to manually load it in,” he stated.

Electrical panels have been laborious to supply, he added, however they have been fortunate sufficient to seek out an electrician in Utah who constructed what they wanted. “However you’ll see quite a lot of massive firms, equivalent to Walmart, they will’t develop as a result of there’s no electrical panels. That’s the form of ongoing theme,” he stated.

Inflation and supply-chain points are also hitting Fairly Chook’s meals provide, Pham stated — a significant downside for a restaurant that prides itself on making accesible meals with high-quality elements.

“We get rooster that’s hand-trimmed. We additional trim our rooster, we season our rooster, we hand-batter, we hand-fry them,” he stated. “All of our sauces are made in-house. Our slaw, all of our sides, are made in-house.”

When he first began Fairly Chook 4 years in the past, he added, they have been paying $1.50 a pound for rooster; they moved as much as a fair higher rooster, and paid $2.25. This previous 12 months, he stated, they’ve been paying over $4 a pound.

Pham stated he’ll by no means budge on high quality, however for individuals on the lookout for smaller or extra inexpensive choices, Fairly Chook has two new menu objects coming this fall.

The brand new objects, arriving in late September or early October, are mini variations of their present menu objects, Pham stated. One is a smaller sandwich, “mainly like a slider,” and rooster nuggets for a kid-friendly possibility. Each can be accessible in any respect 4 Fairly Chook places.

Pham is trying into increasing Fairly Chook outdoors of Utah — however, for now, he stated, he’ll look forward to the world to get a bit extra steady.

“We’re going to give attention to optimizing all of our techniques, our procedures,” he stated, “after which after the financial system will get higher, provide chain points get solved, hopefully then we will begin our enlargement.”