PrintI Take It All Back- Dirty Bird To Go Now Makes Great Fried Chicken
When Dirty Bird To Go first opened I ruffled quite a few feathers with a less than laudatory write-up on my old Ed Levine Eats blog. Co-owner Allison Vines Rushing took me to task in an e-mail exchange for reviewing her fried chicken joint prematurely, before she had time to get the kinks (or should I say pluck all the feathers) out.
I've gone back a few times in the last couple of years and noted some improvement, but a visit the other day has me convinced that finally the fried chicken at Dirty Bird is up to Vine-Rushing's standards.
Every piece in my half-chicken order was perfectly fried to a gorgeous dark brown color that Giorgio Armani should use to make suits and sport jackets. The chicken was well-salted, just peppery enough, and was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. It was everything fried chicken should be, but rarely is, in this town.
Decent chicken fingers were markedly improved by a dip in the honey mustard sauce spiked by fresh horseradish.
Sides were much-improved as well. Smashed potatoes had plenty of butter, salt, and pieces of scallion. Maybe better was the slightly spicy, incredibly flavorful kale, cooked long and slow Southern-style. Tangy mac and cheese needed some crunch. Skip the corn bread, which was dull, greasy, and characterless.
It took awhile, but Dirty Bird has indeed taken full flight.
Dirty Bird To Go
204 W. 14th Street, New York NY 10011 (b/n Seventh and Eighth Avenues; map)
212-620-4836
dirtybirdtogo.com
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7 Comments:
No biscuit?
rrakes at 12:12PM on 08/26/08
that looks wonderful! can not wait to go!:)
this blog seems to spurring chefs to go for the gold!:)
Goldilocks Finds Manhattan at 12:16PM on 08/26/08
The chicken was good. The mashers, good, too. The cornbread was bad.
Adam Kuban at 2:00PM on 08/26/08
I find Dirty Bird a little pricey, no? The sides are also miniscule and I avoid the cornbread like the plague. Nonetheless, tasty fried chicken. My husband swears by a fried chicken joint in Queens called Palace Fried Chicken. It is probably the best fried chicken I have ever had.
devaleena at 2:01PM on 08/26/08
I'll second any praise of that chicken. What's amazing is how long it retains its crunch... there's plenty of fried chicken that's tasty when steaming hot, but the really good stuff should be edible long after.
The cornbread... I just couldn't figure it out. It was almost gloppy. Pliable. Like polenta that sat too long on the plate.
Carey Jones at 2:16PM on 08/26/08
@devaleena, Yes, unfortunately, it is pretty pricey. The box photographed above cost $18.95... and that's not including the miniscule sides. Yikes.
Carey Jones at 2:20PM on 08/26/08
I heard a lot of hype about this place. To be honest, so many bbq places, so many pretend places. Last week FB wrote about Redhead - ehh...it was ok. Not good, not bad.
I never knew Charles - and people are telling me that was the best.
This weekend - I'm heading over to the apple store on 14th, walked past this place. Looks pretty simple. Tiny space, but people stayed there to eat. The chicken is delicious. The mac and cheese - super tasty.
I'm going to correct Mr. Levine - they tell me there's no Allison who's any part owner. Instead the guy who owns it is there almost every night during the week. Perhaps that is the change that changed your tune.
I would recommend.
tastytreats at 5:15PM on 12/15/08