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| Le Coupe's fried bone-in chicken is dipped in chili honey for a touch of ranch flavor. (Jenn Harris/Image) |
Fried Chicken Thighs at Le Coupe
Fefum.com, - Does eating with your hands make it tastier? What about eating meat off the bone? I don't know if there's any scientific evidence to support either, but eating fried chicken in the form of a bone-in French thigh and holding it like Fred Flintstone has dinosaur ribs. is very satisfying.
At Le Coupe, Craig Walker, and Kristen Walker's new Western Avenue restaurant, the menu is centered around fried French leg bones. The name Le Coupe means "cut" in French. French Thighs was created by Craig while he was working at a restaurant in Aspen, Colorado, selling over $80,000 worth of fried chicken thighs in its first winter.
"I had caviar, wagyu beef, all the crazy ingredients, but people were always drawn to fried chicken," he said.
Craig makes precise cuts around the chicken bone, then along the bottom and sides so the meat stays connected at one end and the rest of the bone is spotless He pounds the core to reduce cooking time and increase surface area to make it more crunchy. He marinates his thighs in buttermilk and slaps ya mama, a hot sauce owned by Jack Walker, whom Craig likes to call his cousin, for a minimum of 12 hours. The two friends lived together in Louisiana for some time, but are not related.
Craig dredges the chicken in seasoned flour and lets it rest to fully hydrate the flour. , I didn't rehydrate the flour. The chicken is dusted with flour and then fried. Dipping it twice in flour gives it a thick, lumpy crust, and can be eaten as-is. After the chicken comes out of the fryer, Craig adds chili paste and chili honey made from JJJ Bees honey. And he serves his chicken in creamy buttermilk ranch stuffed with fresh herbs and a dash of vinegar.
I like to take big bites by holding the clean bone ends of my chicken, stopping every now and then to lick the chili honey from my finger along the corner of my mouth. You can also put chickens in your ranch, like so.
Focused on chicken, but with corn ribs (a quarter of corn fried with lime mayonnaise and chili seasoning, queso fresco, and cilantro), blue cornbread, and compressed watermelon served in a puddle Best eaten with a salad. Basil pistachio dressing dotted with creamy goat feta cheese. Small, square watermelon salads can also be eaten with your hands.
"I think I have something to say about eating with your hands," said Craig. "There are a lot of foods on my menu that require hands. That brings another element."
Couldn't agree more. Just ask for extra napkins.
Yangban Society Whipped Cheesecake
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| Whipped cheesecake from Yangban Society. (John Troxell/Image) |
Nearing the end of dinner at restaurants in Yanbang Society, Katiana, and Jon Hong's Arts District, I face the same dilemma. Sticky soy garlic chicken wings, abalone porridge pot pie, avocado, and pickled pear salad tossed with warm mustard vinaigrette, biscuits drenched in curried gravy, and more are satisfying. I couldn't take another bite. The thought is really painful. But for Katiana's cheesecake, I'll hold out.
A tall chunky wedge takes up most of the small plate served, spilling over the sides and swimming in a thick red strawberry topping that pools around the slice. One of the brightly lit rotating dessert cases at the diner looks like it was pulled straight out of the
"I love that you go to the deli or the diner and there's always cheesecake on display," Katyana said in a recent phone call. It's got a lot of toppings. It's kind of overwhelming in the end, but I wanted to justify it to some degree."
To achieve the same canned jam look, Katiana washed, peeled, and frozen strawberries. Once frozen, remove it from the freezer and let it hang so that clear strawberry juice drips from the fruit. She boils the juice with pectin and sugar and leaves it overnight. To complete the chunky jam look, she folds in the chopped strawberries.
It's rich, not too sweet, and has a vivid strawberry flavor. Below that is a fluffy and light whipped cheesecake with whipped cream, whipped cream cheese, and whipped coconut cream. It's all surrounded by a super buttery, crumbly crust made with butter and coconut biscuits, brown sugar, and lots of dark roasted brown butter.
Every time I ate at a restaurant, I had to use a rideshare service. This has nothing to do with how much wine is consumed at dinner. Decadent cheesecake knocks me over the edge on my way home and puts me in a blissfully sleepy coma.