Halloween may have come and gone, but the tide of new ghost kitchens continues apace. There's still a thread running through fresh arrivals to the space: Fried chicken.
For the uninitiated, ghost kitchens is an evocative term for what are essentially kitchens within existing restaurant kitchens, separate brands that produce dishes for takeout and delivery only and have no street presence. Launched in October, both the The Portly Porker (which operates out of That Meatball Place in Farmingdale) and Mother Cluckers (out of Bay Shore ) take different approaches to the business model, but each has finessed their own version of fried chicken.
THE PORTLY PORKER
"It’s been my baby for 10 years," said Thomas Fazio, executive chef of That Meatball Place, which also has a location in Patchogue. Through his decades in restaurant kitchens, Fazio said he tried to perfect both the quickest and tastiest way to render crisp, swoonworthy fried chicken.
For The Portly Porker’s version, Fazio soaks the birds in buttermilk and sous-vides them whole before butchering. The parts are then dredged in pulverized, spice-laced cornflakes for a version that’s robust rather than delicate, with hints of cinnamon and a honey glaze.
It’s a capstones of The Portly Porker menu, which is otherwise focused on barbecue. "We wondered, what don’t we have in this area," said Fazio, who had contemplated a ghost kitchen long before COVID-19 arrived and takeout took off.
When the chef realized the radius around Farmingdale was largely absent of barbecue, he and his team got to work. At first, he was puzzled as to how to make the connection between a hidden kitchen and tactile customers. "[Guests] like to see, hear, smell, and taste," he said.
So the team came up with a mascot and inspiration, a globetrotting English pic (the portly porker) who travels the U.S. "stealing" barbecue traditions from various regions, such as Texas and the Carolinas, then fuses them together.
Installing a smoker inside That Meatball Place’s kitchen was not an option, Fazio said, so he partnered with an affiliate (one he declines to name) to smoke meats that the chef picks out, then deliver those to the restaurant — brisket, neatly trimmed St. Louis-style ribs (which are then smothered in a sticky Korean-style glaze), roasted chicken and Carolina-style pulled-pork that is then punched up with Colman’s Mustard and apple-cider vinegar. There are also entrees such as walnut-crusted salmon with a honey-dijon glaze.
Portions are family style and served in aluminum trays; prices start at $7 for sides such as a six-cheese mac-and-cheese with corn, okra and a panko crust. Platters of meat cost $19 to $28, and each feeds two to three people. A giant portion of barbecued shrimp, lobster and lump crab is $35.
While diners can pick up The Portly Porker orders at That Meatball Place — as well as get delivery through their delivery apps — they can’t order from within the confines of the restaurant, which retains its own menu for both dine-in and takeout.
MOTHER CLUCKERS
The folks at Lessings take a narrower approach to acquiring their Mother Cluckers fried-chicken sandwiches, which can only be ordered via apps and delivered to addresses that lie along the Babylon-to-Sayville corridor.
Launched Oct. 20 with a whimsical emphasis on the #motherclucking motto and hashtag, Mother Cluckers has a succinct menu anchored by crispy buttermilk fried-chicken sandwiches on brioche buns, including a mainstay with pickles and mayo ($10), a Nashville-hot version (also $10, and "hot like the motherclucking sun,") and an $11 version with avocado aioli, pickled banana peppers and cabbage slaw. The "What the Cluck?!!" sandwich has the addition of bacon, white barbecue sauce and crispy onions, and comes on a pretzel bun, for $12. All were created by Lessings executive chef William Muzio.
The kitchen that produces these sandwiches is supposedly secret, but the phone number that appears on Grubhub belongs to Southside Bar & Restaurant in Bay Shore. Plans for a ghost kitchen were casually in the works for more than a year, said Jennifer Cantin, director of marketing and development for Lessings. "And then with COVID and the way the restaurant environment has changed, we jumped back on board and said, ‘lets do this. It’s the perfect time."
Mother Cluckers’ Instagram feed (@mothercluckingchicken) shows towering sandwiches delivered in boxes lined with festive checked paper; some sandwiches are wrapped in foil. But, as the branding notes, "If you’re out of our delivery area, we’re motherclucking sorry."
Both The Portly Porker and Mother Cluckers are found on the usual delivery sites — Grubhub, Uber Eats and DoorDash — and The Portly Porker menu is online at portlyporker.com.
The Link LonkNovember 05, 2020 at 06:00PM
https://ift.tt/3682X9H
Get fried chicken to go at these new LI 'ghost kitchens' - Newsday
https://ift.tt/38mRq7q
Fried Chicken
No comments:
Post a Comment