Saveur Second Annual BBQ Event

Great food, great people, plenty of chef sightings, and grilling bbq on a pier.  Now that makes for a good event. 

Going to a chef event is sometimes hit-or-miss.  Most of the time they are great.  Plenty of restaurants doing what they do best with a hot guest list, serving top-notch food in a beautiful setting.  Others, however, not so much.  Sometimes you can head to one where every restaurant runs out of food within an hour (that's poor planning due to the PR team, not usually the restaurant), and there's not a lot of care put into the food.  This, thankfully, was a major hit. 

This is the second year Saveur magazine threw this event, and it was so discrete from the public that it was invitation only.  Everything was served off of Pier 66 in Chelsea Piers, very much away from the public eye. 



There was no shortage of top restauranteurs and chefs here (yes I was giddy with excitement because these guys are like rockstars to me).  Here are just a few:

Pictured are Marco Canora (Hearth), Marcus Samuelsson (Red Rooster), Merri Lee Kingsley (Saveur magazine), Marc Murphy (Landmarc), and Dan Kluger (ABC Kitchen). 

Hill Country Chicken

“A fresh fried chicken joint”

I do not want to start a debate with fried chicken enthusiasts, or get hung by Southerners on who has the best fried chicken in New York City.  Hopefully, we can agree that the fried chicken served at Hill Country Chicken is damn good. 

I’ve been here twice, and this place is always packed, no matter what time you go.  HCC sources out extra-large all-natural chickens, prepares them fresh daily, and the result is an immensely flavorful, crispy, and juicy piece of chicken.  They have three dining areas, with sidewalk seating open for the season, and a main dining area with plenty of large tables.  The downstairs area is a little more private, with plenty of more seating, as well as banquettes, offers a view of their prep kitchen, and also serves as a kid’s party area complete with board games and a classic Space Invaders arcade machine. 

The chicken here is sold by the piece, in both classic and Mama El’s (the founder’s grandmother) recipes.  Every piece of chicken offered here is brined in buttermilk, spices, and herbs, coated with a flour, egg, and cracker crust, and deep-fried to perfect crispy goodness.  Something else that may shock everyone is to know that the fried chicken served here is skinless.  With the cracker crust, though, let me tell you, you’re not going to miss the chicken skin at all.  They then toss it in a variety of spices.  My god.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.