Music scenester Dante Gonzales will be frying up chicken and tofu in New York for the next ten days or so, before he leaves for L.A. to open a food truck. After rising through the ranks at San Francisco’s Zuni Café and Seattle’s Flying Fish and then deciding he “didn’t feel the same kind of love and energy” there as he had cooking with his grandma, Gonzales began serving his grub at parties and shows around the world, for artists like M.I.A., Theophilus London, and Santigold. Now, for the first time, he’s offering bicycle delivery.
The chef hopes that Ride or Fry, as he’s calling the project, will show people that “fried chicken is not junk food— it’s a character dish; it’s like gumbo.” His “Sock It to Me” chicken consists of Murray’s free-range breasts coated in a batter that includes nuts, seeds, and fresh herbs (Grandma’s trick during times when flour was scarce). Greenmarket sides include a cucumber-corn-and-string-bean salad, a roasted-paprika-corn macaroni and cheese, and a daily pie.
Dante’s “ChickenRidaz,” a largely rail-thin and hoodie-clad group of friends from the music and art scenes, will deliver $10 boxes of food in ecofriendly containers for free below 14th Street (minimum order is four boxes, or it’s $2 per box), or to Brooklyn with a $10 delivery charge. The four-box minimum is not just for convenience: The chef hopes friends will get together and send out for chicken. “We’re trying to create a viral party experience,” he says. In fact, Damon Dash’s Creative Control media network will be filming select deliveries for a planned documentary. Get in on the fun by placing your dinner order after 8 p.m. (lunch starts next week) at rideorfry.com.
