Annals of Fried Chicken

Carmellini’s Fried Chicken Returns

Photo: Melissa Hom

Think not that the best fried chicken in New York is lost — long ago retired from Andrew Carmellini’s Café Boulud off-menu repertoire. After Dave Chang brought it up earlier, we asked Carmellini if per chance the Locanda fried chicken he’s teased is the return of the best bird. Jackpot: “Yeah, I used to make these fried-chicken dinners for some of the guests at Café [such as Dianne Sawyer] … It’s flattering that Dave is doing it also now at Momo. I was planning on doing them starting in September in the back room at Locanda,” said the chicken master. “We’re working out the details but there will probably be live music, Karen Damasco baking pies, and two seatings, family-style. And when we open up reservations you can speak to a human.”

Carmellini’s Fried Chicken Returns