Saturday, November 8, 2008

Hot Wings Cafe - Melrose and La Brea

I love me a hot wing! It is one of the foods that i think about for days before engaging in it's consumption. If you too get a hankerin' for Buffalo's favorite finger food check out Hot Wings Cafe on Melrose, just east of La Brea. The price is fair and the wings are prepared perfectly.

Their wings are un-breaded, which is how i prefer them. They are fried crisp and tossed in your choice of sauce; hot, super hot, BBQ, etc. Their "mild" version was garlicky and delicious. The hot variety are nothing to sweat over, but I imagine that their spicier varieties get very hot, very fast.

I checked this place out on a Friday with a few friends from work. We engaged in a wing eating contest during lunch and, I'm proud to say, took home the crown with 29.5 wings...yes, i count "halfsies." There was some conjecture regarding the rules of the contest, the time frame and the true meaning of an "eaten wing." To me, if there is anything left on the bone, you are doing it wrong.

I have a special wing eating technique, taught to me by my mother. It works only on the "wing" not the drumette - which is fine, because the drumette is - to me - the inferior chicken part. here's how the technique works: You take the wing with two hands, thumb and forefinger grasping the top end of each bone. Tear the two bones apart and choose whichever of the two peices excites you more. Dip it in the sauce of your choice - bleu cheese, ranch, vinagar, or dry if you please. Then, grasping one end of the half-wing, put the whole deal in your mouth and use your front teeth to cleave flesh from bone. Repeat with the other half, and smile...with your mouth full...of course.

When done correctly, you will remove all edible parts in one fell swoop. It creeps out a lot of people because you'll be eating the crispy cartilage and occasionally some bone too. To me, if it comes off the bone...it's for eating. If it stays on the bone, its for making stock.

It's been two days since gorging at Hot Wings Cafe, and I'm already excited to go back.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wing-eating contest, huh? You know, I'm notorious for processing wings like a machine. Serious - I've only done this around very close family members because all witnesses describe my ability as "terrifying." When I've lost the 12 pounds I gained recently, I'd like to challenge you.

Max said...

Hey Sister,

I'll take you on any time.

Thanks for reading!