Fried Chicken Throwdown - March 11 - West Town Tavern

Hi all,

My friend Brooks Hamaker, who is very active in the Southern Foodways Alliance, just sent me this link (from Metromix.com) about this interesting event, which is coming up on Sunday:

Fried Chicken Throwdown Benefit

Fried Chicken Throwdown Benefit
West Town Tavern
1329 W. Chicago Ave.

Dine on a multicourse poultry dinner while watching films about Southern cooks and their passion for fried chicken. Includes pairings from Garretson Winery. Southern Foodways Alliance director John T. Edge presents the films: Joe York's "Hot Chicken" and excerpts from "Scotch and Milk: Saving Willie Mae's."

On the menu: Scotch House fried chicken with apricot chutney and a buttermilk biscuit; Prince's hot chicken with Caesar salad; West Town Tavern fried chicken with garlic mashed potatoes, Southern greens and wild mushroom gravy; and lemon chess pie with fresh berries and whipped cream.

Mar. 11: 6 p.m.

Price: $75. Includes tax and tip. Proceeds benefit the Southern Foodways Alliance Documentary Film Initiative
Phone: 312-666-6175

=R=

The West Town website says the dinner is sold out now. I made reservatiosn awhile ago and will report back. I am looking forward to meeting Mr. Edge.

Cinny's Mom wrote:The West Town website says the dinner is sold out now. I made reservatiosn awhile ago and will report back. I am looking forward to meeting Mr. Edge.

Thanks for the heads up. I just found out about it a bit too late. I'd love to meet Mr. Edge and see these films. Have fun and please do report back if you get a chance.

=R=

I'm ashamed to say that I can't provide pictures with my report, but I'll give it a try all the same (and hope that other diners can fill in the gaps).

I'd never been to West Town Tavern before, so I was pleased to discover that it was a warmly inviting restaurant. The staff welcomed us and seated us immediately (and they even brought us the check for the evening, since it was a charity event and even the tip was included in the $75 per person price tag -- very handy, as it turned out).

We were given the evening's menu, as well as some information about the Southern Foodways Alliance. I had heard about the event through a friend-of-a-friend who has done a lot of research in Oxford and is writing her own southern cookbook, so I was looking forward to learning more.

Before dinner, John T. Edge gave an introduction to the dinner and the evening. He spoke briefly about the Southern Foodways Alliance's work in researching and preserving the history of southern food culture. He was particularly eloquent about their desire to connect the traditions and knowledge of the cooks serving "fried chicken for $7 a plate" with that of culinary historians and chefs serving food at "$70 a a plate." As he explained, that's one of the reasons that the SWA has created guides to particular culinary traditions and why they make about 8-10 short films every year.

They had planned to show a film about Willie Mae Seton's Scotch House, a venerable friend chicken institution in New Orleans, but the film turned into a 55-minute piece, which seemed a bit too long for dinner. Instead, he promised us a 10-minute film about Prince's Hot Chicken in Nashville. He also noted that the SFA had organized about 300 volunteers and had raised $200,000 in donations in order to help rebuild Willie Mae's Scotch House, which is set to re-open around Easter.

Dinner started out with a re-creation of Scotch House fried chicken (apparently Mrs. Seton is not giving out that recipe!), and if the genuine article is more delicious, it must be a miracle. This was not the usual heavy-crusted, crunchy chicken, but it was perfectly tender, flavorfull, and not a bit greasy. Lora Tatum-Smith's buttermilk biscuits and succotash were a perfect complement. The biscuits were buttery and half flaky, half crumbly. They were light and tender and everything a biscuit ought to be. The succotash had chunks of what appeared to be fat back, but the addition of fresh herbs gave it a remarkably fresh flavor. This course was served with a Garretson's wine, "Cornbread Nation" Cuvée White, which complemented it perfectly.

The next course was Prince's Hot Chicken Wings, though I mean no criticism when I say that I believe we must have gotten the mild version. The wings were actually drumettes coated with a chestnut-colored coating that tasted almost carmelized -- not sweet, but with a wonderful depth of flavor. They were absolutely heavenly. The wings were served with a Caesar salad and a Garretson "Celeidh" Rosé, which didn't impress me as much as the white, though in all honesty, I think I'd have preferred beer with my spicy chicken wings.

I was worried whether I'd be able to go the distance with three courses of fried chicken, and the steady stream of biscuits smeared with honey-butter didn't seem as if it would allow much room for another dish. But the West Town Tavern fried chicken with garlic mashed potatoes was worth the small space I'd saved for it. This was definitely an "uptown" chicken, with a classically crunch crust and accompanied by wild mushroom gravy. I loved the greens, which looked as if they'd been hand shredded into postage-stamp sized pieces, and which were suffused with tangy richness. He Garretson "Cornbread Nation Cuvée" red was a perfect accompaniment here: nicely balanced and not overwhelming.

We enjoyed the film before dessert, and I'll say only that it was both a respectful tribute to a great cook and a hilarious portrait of the restaurant's devoted customers. (note: I was perplexed by the use of Yo La Tengo on the soundtrack, until my spouse pointed out that the song was "Hot Chicken #1").

Dinner closed with a marvelous lemon chess pie. I'm not a fan of this kind of pie, since it is usually too sweet and monotonous. However, this pie had a crumbly texture and an excellent crust. I'd order it again, if I had the chance.

Overall, it was an excellent dinner for a very fine organization. Thanks to all involved for giving us such a wonderful evening.

John T. Edge bio:
http://www.johntedge.com/bio/

Rebuilding Mrs. Willie Mae Seton's Scotch House:
http://www.southernfoodways.com/saving_williemae.shtml

The story of Prince's Hot Chicken:
http://www.southernfoodways.com/oral_hi ... ries.shtml

Garretson's Wines:
http://www.garretsonwines.com/id47.htm

Thanks, MariaTheresa, for the detailed report and additional links. Having never met Mr. Edge before or seen these films, I really wanted to attend but it was sold out by the time I learned about it. Not even my well-connected friend at SFA could get us tickets, though he tried. I guess we Chicagoans are either extremely benevolent, seriously fried-chicken deprived, or both.

=R=

Glad to hear you like (some) of the Garretson wines! Mat is a buddy of mine and the photo of Mat on the link you provided is one of mine from a shoot we did in '04 or '05.... Glad to see he's still using it.

Have yet to get to West Town Tavern but it's on the list

mel

mhill95149 wrote:Glad to hear you like (some) of the Garretson wines! Mat is a buddy of mine and the photo of Mat on the link you provided is one of mine from a shoot we did in '04 or '05.... Glad to see he's still using it.

Have yet to get to West Town Tavern but it's on the list

mel

I enjoyed the Garretson's wines a great deal, so I hope I didn't sound too critical of them. In all honesty, I think I'd need to give that rosé another chance, this time with something a little less spicy.

MariaTheresa- Excellent post. I have nothing to add except to agree with you that the food was scrumptious, the wine pairings were perfect and John T. was "cool."

Unfortunately, my camera doesn't take good closeups, and the only picture that came out was of the West Town Tavern fried chicken:

Great post MariaTheresa, you summed the evening up perfectly. On the whole, my favorite dish was the Prince's chicken dish. Even though we got the very mild version, the flavor was great. In fact, I think a road trip to Nashville is in order after this dinner!