DJ Khaled is backing the world's most ambitious restaurant launch

On Nov. 11, DJ Khaled became the co-founder of one of the largest restaurant launches in history.

The Emmy Award-winning producer, record executive and unlikely Snapchat evangelist has partnered with ghost kitchen operator Reef Technology Inc. to create Another Wing. The delivery-only model is launching simultaneously with more than 150 kitchens in five countries: the U.S., the U.K., Canada, France, and the United Arab Emirates. In North America, it will operate in cities from Atlanta, Houston, and Los Angeles to Toronto and Vancouver.

“It's the first restaurant concept to ever launch on three continents at the same time, with over 150 locations and growing,” said Khaled via email. He called it “making history in the world of food.”

“Reef and Khaled are both Miami-born and raised with global reach,” explains Alan Philips, Reef's chief creative officer, about first proposing they team up. “Khaled is a creator — he has tens of millions of followers, billions of streams. We started talking about how we could bring something he loves to his fans.”

To create the concept, a team at Reef went over a list of Khaled's favourite foods. Those dishes include jerk chicken, fried snapper, and the Middle Eastern rice dish lamb maqluba. “Wings stood out as something that's universally loved and can be brought to many areas,” says Philips. The all-important branding includes hot pink bags emblazoned with Rolls Royces and palm trees; in Miami, the mode of delivery will also include jet ski.

Starting at US$6.95 for a sixpiece order, eight flavours will be offered initially, including Honey! Honey! Hot Honey Sriracha and Un Un Un Believable Buffalo. Khaled calls out his favourites as You Loyal! Lemon Pepper and They Don't Want You to Win Truffalo, which mixes black truffles and spicy buffalo sauce. The wings will be available bone-in and boneless and are cooked sous vide before being fried, with plant-based options coming in the next two months, says Philips. Sides include jalapeno cheese fries and onion rings plus chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

Chicken wings are an attractive proposition for virtual brands. It's Just Wings, the delivery-only concept of Chili's, was scoring US$3 million in weekly sales soon after launching in June 2020. In April, parent company Brinker's International Inc. said the brand was scheduled to post US$150 million in annual sales by the end of the year.

Reef, which runs over 5,000 tech-enhanced parking lots around North America and Europe, is the country's largest operator of ghost kitchens.