Creativity, Versatility and a Demand for the Familiar Keep Chicken a Menu Must-Have

By Laura Yee

As chefs increasingly understand the wisdom of menuing foods that customers really want to eat, chicken is gaining stature and importance. “Some chefs may dismiss it as boring but people want and like chicken,” says Chris Hastings, chef owner of Hot and Hot Fish Club restaurant in Birmingham, Ala. “Poultry  represents a safe thing. People know chicken and it falls within their comfort zone. There is so much creativity and so much thinking outside the box in restaurant operations these days that you need to have a comfort choice, something very simple and familiar.” Chefs have been mining at least one advantage of the bird’s familiarity. Using the everyday appeal of a widely accepted ingredient such as chicken, guests can then be lured to the diversity and intrigue of the global pantry. By pairing ethnic flavors with the well-known protein, chefs demonstrate poultry’s great range and versatility. While chicken is praised for easily adopting the flavors of most cuisines, it also hits the mark for simplicity. But as many cooks will caution, preparing perfectly moist chicken often is regarded as a skill and a challenge. Simplicity can be defined by grilled citrus-herb chicken with French fries at Union Restaurant and Bar in Santa Monica, CA or pan roasted chicken breast with chanterelles and fingerling potato salad at Icarus in Boston. “People want simple, comforting food,” says James Grey, chef at the recently opened Union. “And they want it done right. Chicken that is juicy and flavorful is unsurpassed because customers so often find it overcooked, dry and tasteless.” Though dark meat is appearing more often on menus, customers still show preference for white breast meat, with grilling or pan-roasting among the favored cooking methods. At the Kansas City, MO based Houlihan’s chain, chicken breasts are grilled and served with sautéed vegetables, mashed potatoes, shiitake mushrooms, red-wine sauce and onion straws. At Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar, headquartered in Overland Park, KN, they are marinated with lime and tequila before grilling and then served on tortilla strips topped with “Mexi-Ranch” dressing and Jack-Cheddar sauce, Southwestern rice and pico de gallo.  Perhaps no protein adapts as easily to ethnic flavors as does chicken. A recent addition to Dallas-based T.G.I. Friday's menu is crispy orange-flavored chicken. The mix of flavors and textures is so appealing that orange chicken has for years been the most popular dish among children and adults for South  Pasadena, CA based Panda Express, a quick-service concept that bills itself as gourmet Chinese. In the chain’s version, breast meat is battered and fried and then combined with sweet and mildly spicy chili sauce and green onions. “Unlike lamb or certain beef cuts, chicken has a very subtle taste. It absorbs the flavors of whatever is added to it,” says chef owner Paul Klitsie of Fratelli in Portland, Ore. “It can go with anything.” Chicken breast wrapped in prosciutto has been a signature dish since he and co-owner Tim Cuscaden opened the regional Italian restaurant four years ago. Klitsie seasons the breast and sears it skin-side down, rendering the fat and crisping the skin. He then wraps the meat in prosciutto and finishes the preparation in the oven. It is served with mushroom jus and creamy polenta made with Parmesan, onion, garlic, rosemary and a hint of chile. ”I ate a similar dish in Italy,” he says. “It’s fresh, light and comforting and appeals to a lot of customers,” Pedigreed Poultry.  To give chicken the cachet to compete with other protein options, many restaurants make a point of listing the meat as free-range or organic. “It may be a chicken dish that you can easily make at home but we want the customer to know that it is the best chicken you can buy,” says John Coletta, executive chef of Caliterra in the Wyndham Chicago hotel. Coletta, whose menu changes seasonally, serves penne with organic chicken, asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes as a pasta course. Chicken also shows up as a entrée, roasted with prosciutto and sage and served with soft mascarpone polenta fig balsamic essence. At Water Grill in Los Angeles, Executive Chef Michael Cimarusti weaves one chicken option into his seafood dominant menu so fish-shy diners have a comfortable alternative. Taking its place among the upscale offerings is roasted free-range breast of chicken, served with cussie de poulet farcie et pocheev – a boned chicken thigh, stuffed with chicken mousseline and lightly poached. Just before service, the thigh is seared for a crisp finish, then sliced to resemble a roulade. A simple chicken jus and confit of gold potatoes accompany the offering. Comfort Factor chef’s agree that chicken’s popularity stems in part from consumer perceptions of the meat as comfort food. To build on this appeal, it often is paired with simple, homespun components. The catering menu at the University of Georgia in Athens teams sautéed chicken breast with Southern Sage dressing, pan-roasted chicken gravy and seasonal vegetables. On campus, Georgian Chicken continues to be a strong seller, despite the arrival of trendier, bolder foods. The dish consists of a chicken breast baked with Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. It is served with rice pilaf, creamy supreme (white) sauce and a selection of seasonal vegetables. At Bin 36 in Chicago, rotisserie Amish chicken is matched with lemon-chive mashed potatoes and rich chicken jus while Ambrosia on Huntington in Boston prepares an oven-roasted airline breast with chorizo, white-truffle gnocchi, forest mushrooms and sweet garlic-saffron sauce. L’Espalier, also in Boston, serves herb-and sumac-coated young spring chicken with puff-pastry pot pie containing baby leeks, and a fricassee of morels and foie gras. Hot and Hot Fish Club’s Hastings plays up comfort not just with the components but also with the seasons. His intent is to strike a balance of interest, flavors and textures. For example, he serves oven-roasted chicken breast (skin on) atop creamy grits with local grapes, black mission figs and verjus sauce. “You have corn flavor from the grits, the richness of the chicken and the sweetness of the fruit set off by the tartness of the verjus”, he says. “People ask for it all year, but because it is fruit-based it doesn’t appear on the menu until spring.” The fruit varies as spring gives way to summer, he says. Hastings sees poultry as a continuing culinary challenge. “Chefs and operators have to put a lot more effort into making chicken really interesting. But when you do, the payoff is big. People love it.”