A NEW chicken restaurant is showing a more ethical side to the Sussex poultry industry’s controversial past.

h.en, on Trafalgar Street, Brighton, is serving high-welfare chicken sourced from a single farmer using old-fashioned rearing methods. The Sussex hen is one of the oldest and best-loved breeds in the UK.

But the county was also home to the UK’s first intensive battery chicken farm, Buxted Chickens, later Grampian Chicken Factory, near Uckfield, which was notoriously dubbed an “animal gulag”.

Now h.en owner Philip Ilic wants to bring back the humble chicken to Sussex – albeit in a more ethical form.

Poultry will come from Brookland Farm in Surrey, where the birds have the highest quality of life, plenty of outdoor space and eat feed grown in-house.

The birds are reared on old-fashioned outdoor rearing and low food miles, and differ from mass produced ‘free range’ chickens.

Philip Ilic, son of Foodilic owner Peter Ilic, said: “For me, it’s all about knowing our chickens have had a healthy, happy life.

“The current labelling system lulls people into a false sense of security – ultimately, you can’t trust it and you have to make the effort to visit the farms you get your produce from to really know the conditions.

“It has been incredible to collaborate with farm owner Chris Pinard with his passion for his chickens whilst knowing they have had the highest standard of welfare.

“We aim to be completely transparent about where we source our ingredients, and I welcome any discussions about the welfare of our birds.”

Everything on the menu is made in-house, with marinated chicken either grilled or battered and fried in rice bran oil.

There will also be a salad bar, veggie burgers, eggs for brunch and Dutch syrup waffles.

The interior has been designed from reused materials by Philip’s sister, Amy Ilic and colleague David Pentland, from Ardour Design.

Takeaway customers can do their bit for the environment by paying a £5 refundable deposit for a stainless steel tiffin box to take their food away in.

h.en opened its doors on December 11 at 87-88 Trafalgar Street and will be open every day for brunch 10am to 6pm, and on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings for dinner until 11pm.