Allow me if you will, one moment to introduce a quick new section to the website, flavors in focus. A convenient cubby hole for me to file and away share interesting plates of food that come my way, as opposed to those longer-winded writeups. First up some very fine fried chicken. Yes, yes, I know, your social media feeds are filled with the stuff. I know you’re begging for anything but fried chicken at this point – however – this is some of the better I’ve stumbled over in a while. Certainly the most enjoyable chicken wings I’ve sampled as long as I can remember.
You may recall that Drunken Kitchen recently switched up their commissary kitchen-based ops, for a new brick-and-mortar (2435 S State Street). DK now utilizes a shared space with a handful of similarly-minded entrepreneurs, open six days a week. Dine-in, order to go, delivery too. The causal concept by brothers Tim and Joe Rammell leverages a mix of Chinese and Taiwanese inspirations, with the latter featuring strongly in their fried chicken wing option. If you’ve had Taiwanese-style popcorn chicken around town before, this is very much in the same vein, albeit demanding a more tactile approach.
The wings are marinated (my guess is there’s some five spice lurking) before being double fried; a canny process that affords the poultry a brief respite between a duo of scalding oil baths, allowing increased moisture evaporation – and ultimately – tremendous crisp. Remember kids, moisture is the enemy of fried food. The quick technique also ensures the bird underneath isn’t mercilessly overcooked. Crisp, check, juicy, check.
The finished dish sees the crags flurried in fried basil and lashings of visually arresting chili threads. A side note: these lend mainly mild smokiness, spice barely factors unless you order up your chicken in a range of ratcheting levels. It’s first-class fried chicken by any metric and holds up remarkably well when ordered to go.
$15.99 secures a pound of this exemplary chicken, plenty to share. Don’t do that. Instead, creep down those midnight stairs and furtively enjoy any remaining pieces chilled, directly from the fridge. Trust me – cold fried chicken in hushed silence.
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Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you! I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC. I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have written in myopic detail about the Salt Lake City dining scene for the better part of seventeen years.
I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV. Pause those credits, yep, that’s me! I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune. I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand. What they’re saying about me: “Not inaccurate”, “I thought he was older”, “I don’t share his feelings”.
Want to know more? This is why I am the way I am.
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