There’s a Hot Chicken Fight Brewing in the Northeast

The rare short line (and some lucky diners) at Asad’s Hot Chicken in the Northeast / Photograph by Scott Lewis

Howdy, buckaroos! And welcome back to the Foobooz food news round-up. Kind of a weird week this week as the industry hunkers down and begins girding its collective loins for the upcoming onslaught of Valentine’s Day. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have a few things that you should know this week. We’ve got a Lunar New Year party at the last place you’d expect, LOTS of collabs being announced, and some sad news from the industry. But let’s kick things off this morning with a double-shot of fried-chicken news.

Up in the Great Northeast…

I think we can all agree that the best hot chicken in Philly is at Asad’s, right? And while all of the locations are great, the original — the chicken-trailer-in-a-gas-station-parking-lot OG Asad’s — on Roosevelt Boulevard in Northeast Philly is the best of them.

Which is why I was NOT thrilled to hear that the international hot chicken consortium, Dave’s Hot Chicken, is now carpetbagging its way into Philly, and that it’s making Roosevelt Boulevard its beachhead.

Asad’s lives in the Philly Gas parking lot at 7300 Roosevelt. Coincidentally, Dave’s also began its life as an L.A. pop-up in a gas station parking lot. Asad’s currently has three locations. Dave’s has over 150 locations in 30 states and three countries and is looking to bump that number up to 800 in the next five years. As part of that massive expansion, the first in a string of Dave’s locations is opening at 9113 East Roosevelt Boulevard — which, granted, is like five miles north of Asad’s, but still too close for me.

Honestly, I have no real beef with Dave’s other than its horning in on a neighborhood that’s already home to the best hot chicken operation in the city.

The hot chicken mega-chain is also looking at locations in Willow Grove and Cherry Hill, with eight total spots planned for the area in the coming years, and you don’t see me complaining about that, right? Of course not. But kicking off your regional expansion just up the street from Asad’s? That’s not cool. Nor is it wise, what with the lines Asad’s pulls pretty much every minute that it’s open.

But hey, we’ll just see what happens, I guess. After years of fascination, I once believed that the hot chicken mania was finally starting to cool off a little bit (see what I did there?). Apparently, I was wrong. Because now [action movie announcer’s voice], it seems like the real battle for hot chicken supremacy is just getting started.

Meanwhile, FedNuts Abandons South Philly, Announces Return to South Philly

Federal Donuts’ pumpkin-roll fancy doughnut in front of their 2nd Street location. / Photograph by Kae Lani Palmisano

So here’s a thing that happened over the weekend: Philly’s doughnuts-and-fried-chicken darling, Federal Donuts, announced late last week that it was going to be shuttering two of its locations. First, the original South Philly streetcorner shop at 1219 South 2nd Street in Pennsport, then the West Philly location at 3428 Sansom Street in UCity.

And that’s rough. Those two locations have been providing for the fried birds and breakfast-cake needs of the neighbors for years, and even though FedNuts has promised to send the food truck around now and then, that’s just not the same thing.

BUT in the same breath as they were announcing the closures (or, really, in the same Instagram post), Steve Cook and Michael Solomonov’s chicken shop said that it would be opening a whole new joint in South Philly, just down the way at 22 Wolf Street. And not only will it be new, but it will also be BIGGER, with more seating and, possibly, a larger menu.

As a matter of fact, size seemed to be the issue in both locations, because even though a new West Philly location hasn’t been announced yet, the team is actively hunting for some larger digs and something “more easily accessible to both campuses, and the greater community.”

Both stores served their last fancies on Sunday. And while there’s no word yet on a precise opening date for the new Wolf Street FedNuts, the team is saying that it will open “very soon.”

I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed.

Okay, so what’s next …

Celebrating Lunar New Year on East Passyunk Avenue

Layla, the daughter of Ember & Ash owners Scott and Lulu Calhoun, getting ready to celebrate the Year of the Dragon. / Photograph by Mike Prince

Normally, Ember & Ash is where you go when you’re on the Ave and looking for some roasted bone marrow with uni, radiatori with lamb ragu or a slice of Basque cheesecake. But for the past couple years, it has ALSO been a place to celebrate Lunar New Year.

Owners Scott and Lulu Calhoun will be celebrating the Year of the Dragon from Monday, February 5th to Saturday, February 10th in the traditional way — with turnip cakes, dragon-inspired desserts and cocktails, and dumplings made according to Lulu’s grandmother’s recipe.

“Our daughter Layla is a beautiful blend of our cultures,” said Lulu. “And this celebration is a reflection of our shared love for family, food, and the simple joy of gathering around the table.” That’s Layla in the photo, and she seems pretty happy to be celebrating, too.

Anyway, Ember & Ash is figuring this event will draw some crowds (as it has in the past), so they’re suggesting that you make reservations in advance. But since they’re offering the Lunar New Year menu in the dining room and at the bar, they’re taking walk-ins as well.

Now some sad news…

Philly Says Goodbye to an Icon

Charisse McGill of French Toast Bites / Photograph courtesy of Kory Aversa

The local food industry is mourning one of their own this week. Charisse McGill, entrepreneur, mentor, farmers market regular, founder of French Toast Bites and Lokal Artisan Foods, died earlier this month at just 42 years old.

McGill was a fixture at Lansdale Farmers Market, Spuce Street Harbor Park, Christmas Village, Halloween Nights at Eastern State Penitentiary — pretty much everywhere that more than three people gathered and might be hungry for her signature, sweet, street-food-style French Toast Bites. Through partnerships, she turned that one fantastic idea into a mini-empire with French Toast Bites coffee, spice mix, even a French Toast Bites beer collab with Yards called (unsurprisingly) French Toast Bites Ale. She got talked about on the Today Show (along with her daughter, Maddie), written about in Forbes, and was known and loved by so many in the industry, both locally and nationally.

Kae Lani has a great remembrance of McGill online right now — along with comments from a lot of those who knew her. According to her PR rep, McGill’s daughter Maddie will be taking over operations at Lokal for the time being. All current French Toast Bites stands will remain open, and all currently scheduled events will go on as planned. You can follow Lokal and French Toast Bites on Instagram, and read Kae Lani’s story here.

Now how about some leftovers?

The Leftovers

Daniel Griffiths, Amy Rivera, Sam Kalkut, and Jake Loeffler at Paffuto / Photograph by Mike Prince

I didn’t plan this or anything, but this week’s Leftovers are almost entirely about collaborations. Which makes sense, I guess. In the industry, the weeks between New Year’s Eve and Valentine’s Day are generally slow. Actually, everything between New Year’s and Mother’s Day is desolate, with only Valentine’s Day and (maybe) Easter standing out as bright spots.

In any case, we’re smack in the middle of the wasteland right now, three weeks from the start of the year, three weeks from V-Day, so chefs taking this time to try something cool and different to get people in the door sounds like good business. Also, a great way to keep from getting bored.

To wit, we’ve got the crew at Paffuto opening the kitchen to Amy’s Pastelillos for a “Panzerotti & Pastelillos” collab, which is kinda genius. Both kitchens focus on their regional version of savory turnovers, and now they’re getting together on Sunday, February 4th at Paffuto to serve them both together.

But there’s a catch. Amaryllis Rivera Nassar of Amy’s is going to be making Italian versions of her pastelillos, and the Paffuto team will be making Puerto Rican panzerotti. They’ll also be collaborating on sides and a dessert and doing a few of their own specialties. It’s a nice twist. The party starts at 10:30 a.m. and will go until 2 p.m. or whenever the food runs out.

From February 20th to the 23rd, Nok Suntaranon from Kalaya will be working with meal delivery service Home Appetit to put three dishes from her award-winning restaurant into the rotation. Order them for delivery and a portion of that week’s sales will go to Suntaranon’s charity of choice, the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center.

Later in the month, on February 25th, Liz Grothe (who I told you all about two weeks ago) has added another Couch Café collab at Lacroix — which should be wild. She and Lacroix chef Eric Leveillee are getting together for one night only to do two seatings in Lacroix’s elegant dining room (5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.) and blow some minds. I’m letting you know about this one early because Grothe has been booking a lot of these collaboration dinners lately and they’re all selling out. So for those of you smart (and suave and good-looking) enough to have read this far, I’m giving you a heads-up. Reservations will go live on Resy at noon on Friday, February 2nd. Tickets are $135 (plus tax and tip) which ain’t cheap, but if you’re down, make sure to set a reminder to snag a seat before they’re all gone.

And finally this week, just to wrap things up where we started them, over at The Dutch, chef Kevin Watters isn’t exactly doing a collaboration, but he’ll be celebrating Black History Month on Monday, February 19th, by bringing back his popular, pandemic-era pop-up concept, Mom Mom’s Soul Food. That means deviled eggs with Cajun shrimp, mac and cheese cornbread with braised short ribs, buttermilk fried chicken (of course) with collards and candied yams, then banana pudding parfait for dessert.

Once upon a time, Mom Mom’s was takeaway only. But now Watters has reimagined it as a sit-down, multi-course meal. There’ll be two seatings — 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets are $75 per person. And The Dutch will be kicking a portion of the night’s proceeds to chef-driven, BIPOC-owned local non-profit Everybody Eats. So yeah, come in, eat some fried chicken and deviled eggs, hang with the neighbors, and feel good doing it. It’s win-win.