'The vegan KFC': This new Louisville restaurant serves alternative fried chicken items

James Morier is the kind of guy who believes in things out of this world. He also believes in lessons from the Earth.

Take, for example, his account of a recent visit to Cave Hill Cemetery, where the father of KFC is buried.

“I stopped by to see Harland,” Morier says casually of Col. Harland Sanders. “I talked to his grave.”

It might be like talking to a mentor from a slightly different planet.

Morier is following those fried chicken footprints, but just in his own ― chickenless ― way.

A few years ago, the Los Angeles native founded Cosmic Bird, a vegan fried chicken eatery serving “fauxltry” or fake poultry. The longtime chef has gained a nice following through pop-ups at ShopBar and The Merryweather, among other Louisville venues.

That began after Morier moved to Louisville in December 2021. A month later, Cosmic Bird took flight here.

On Feb. 12, Morier’s mobile business moved into a brick-and-mortar space at 916 Baxter Ave., previously the sites of vegan places such as the Flour Shoppe and Morel’s Cafe.

He called the opening “surreal.”

“As a child, I thought to myself, ‘I want to be a chef,’” Morier, 45, told the Courier Journal. “Forty years later, and after working in the industry for 28 years, here I am.”

Morier has collected a bunch of restaurant experiences, from working at casinos to working as a sushi chef to selling grilled cheese sandwiches at Phish concerts to afford the tickets.

A turning point came in 2019 when Morier started a vegan diet.

“I needed a change mentally, physically, and spiritually,” he said. “I decided, ‘I’m going to do this for my health and all the animals.’”

Morier said he enjoyed most meat alternatives.

“But I didn’t like the options for chicken,” he said. “So I started playing around with it.”

He said he found a recipe that felt like a “eureka” moment. Morier uses a mix of vital wheat gluten, beans, seasonings, legumes and other items for Cosmic Bird’s chicken items.

“It made a splash,” he said. “People know me as the vegan fried chicken sandwich guy.”

Around Louisville, where people may have a soft spot for fried chicken, fans of Morier have asked him some version of this question: “How is it being the vegan KFC?”

“It’s absolutely special,” Morier said. “Everybody knows about fried chicken here, what allows me to do what I'm doing here.”

Cosmic Bird features other vegan items, such as a fish sandwich, mushroom burger, Impossible meat sausages, onion rings, and burritos. The restaurant will offer weekly specials, including upcoming “Sushi Sundays” and “Hippie Happy Meals.”

As Morier says, he has “far out” dreams for Cosmic Bird.

“It’s about community first,” he said. “The vegan community is beautiful and vibrant.”

Reach food reporter Amanda Hancock at ahancock@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Vegan fried chicken: Cosmic Bird opens in Louisville