Butter is a Sydney icon. If you’ve yet to sink into a seat in-store and have their seductively crispy, yet succulent fried chicken bless your lips while Freddie Gibbs plays in the background, I feel sorry for you.
Since launching back in 2016, founders Julian Cincotta and Manoli Politis have created one of the country’s most authentic hubs for incredible food, hip hop and street culture. From slinging their signature fried chicken ramen to curating and selling the most cutting-edge brands, there’s a reason why ASAP Ferg has name-dropped the store in a track and acts like Post Malone, The Kid Laroi, 6lack and more make a point to stop by whenever they’re in town.
So, how exactly did they create a vibe so damn cool? We had a chat with Julian to get a deeper look into how the pair started, and where they plan to take the bonafide institution in the future.
Have hip hop and fried chicken been a lifelong love affair for you both?
The obsession began in childhood — especially for Manoli, hip hop raised him, and he was collecting sneakers as soon as he could walk! He calls 1992-93 the golden years of hip hop — so it goes back to around then!
What initially inspired you to start Butter?
Manoli wanted a sneaker shop — he also wanted to intertwine his love of hip hop into a venue where he could play his favourite music to the Sydney public. He thought that was missing in Sydney when we launched in 2016.
I loved food and all parts of hospitality, and I always loved the trend of pairing champagne with greasy foods. We put those two loves together, and Butter was born!
Butter has hosted some incredible parties over the years — what have been your most memorable moments from them?
There have been so many awesome ones that it is hard to choose, but I’ll pick three. The first Wu-Tang party we held just two weeks after we opened is up there, especially since Wu is definitely Manoli’s fave group. I don’t think I have ever seen him so happy!
The second time Post Malone came through also sticks out. The first time he wasn’t a megastar just yet, but the second time he well and truly was. What was nice was that he hadn’t changed. He was still as nice and grounded and happy to talk to everyone as he was when he came through the first time.
ASAP Ferg has come through three times over the years. He has been lovely enough to take us to the studio to watch him record and included us in one of his tracks, ‘Aussie Freaks’ in the line, “we hit Butttteeerr, invite all the Aussie freaks…’.
Australia has been pretty late to adopt hip hop and streetwear culture as a whole, and you guys have been pioneers in bringing something authentic to fans of it — what has it been like flag-bearing for the culture here?
It has always been a big responsibility – but also something we thrive off! We have felt the most important thing has been to do this in the most authentic way we could – and we did this by staying true to our love for the culture.
Have there been any major challenges you’ve faced while running Butter?
The first year was full-on! The demand and attention Butter received from the very beginning was huge! We were overwhelmed. We had another restaurant in Glebe at the time too, and I guess the biggest challenge was learning how to run Butter as a seven-day, 11 am to 11 pm operation and operate and oversee the other venue. It was a steep learning curve — but it was a lot of fun!
One of our most significant issues has been with POS systems varying within our venues and online stores. When we started looking for a new venue POS last year, we noticed that Square’s POS system had become so much better. And as we explored it further, the lightbulb moment came soon after, and we saw we could integrate our retail website into our hospitality POS.
You’ve expanded all over Sydney in recent years — what made you want to spread your wings (no pun intended)?
We love Sydney. We have always wanted to be a big part of Sydney — it is where we were all born and raised. So to become part of Sydney, we knew we had to have our venues in geographically different parts. That’s why we opened the second venue in Parramatta and then the third in Chatswood.
What’s the best item on the Butter menu, in your opinion?
Food is so subjective — everyone has a different opinion on this one. But my two faves are our OG fried Chicken Ramen and the fried mushroom burger. We all should probably eat a bit less meat, and what better way than eating a full, unprocessed, large field mushroom! And it’s just so juicy when you bite into it.
What’s the best sneaker of all time, in your opinion?
The Wu-Tang dunk — only 36 of them were ever made.
What advice would you give to anyone wanting to forge a career in the hospitality industry?
Work hard and love talking to people! Also, you can’t be in hospitality without being hospitable! A lot of the success in expanding seems to be around finding the right staff — they are the backbone of the hospitality industry.
