The decadent chicken for two at Nomad comes to the table whole. (Tamara Beckwith)
Poor chicken. It’s forever been the butt of jokes, maligned for being safe, unimaginative — boring. But this season, some of the hottest chefs have turned the bird into something worth squawking about.
Some, like neighborhood spot 606 R&D (606 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn), have even invested in rotisseries. Opened in Prospect Heights by City Bakery alumnae Ilene Rosen and Sarah Dima, this 30-seat eatery sates locals with half or whole ($20/$30, respectively) free-range chickens from Pennsylvania. “We both enjoy a perfectly roasted chicken and think rotisserie is the best way to get there,” says Dima.
Indeed, roasted golden and served with crisp watercress, cool yogurt and two slices of thick country toast, the pair’s plate “covers all the bases,” from juicy to crispy, creamy to crunchy, tangy to peppery.
At the wildly popular greenmarket-Chinese restaurant Red Farm (529 Hudson St.) in the West Village, the three-chili chicken ($22.50) is more sweet than spicy — unless you bite into one of the plentiful chili peppers in this gussied up kung pao dish.
It’s spice of a different kind that makes the jerk chicken ($19) at Miss Lily’s (132 W. Houston St.) irresistible. Chef Kemis Lawrence marinates his meat overnight in a mixture of thyme, all-spice, garlic, scallions and the all-important Scotch bonnet pepper. He then slow cooks it in a CVap oven for extra moistness before finishing it on a char grill “to give it the smoky flavor.”
The most decadent chicken in the city though, comes, appropriately, from the newly minted James Beard Outstanding Chef, Daniel Humm, at NoMad (1170 Broadway). Befitting the restaurant’s posh environment in the hot new Garment District hotel, his chicken for two ($78) is stuffed with foie gras, brioche and truffles, roasted in a Woodstone oven, presented tableside and then squired away for carving.
When it reappears, it’s been broken down into breast — garnished with seasonal vegetables — and pulled leg meat. “The meat is constantly basted and infused with the truffle flavor, while the skin — separated from the moisture of the meat — really gets golden and crackly,” chef Humm explains. It’s a fowl perfect for fair weather.