What Chicken Should Be

Chicken. It’s something I rarely order, for various reasons. One, too many restaurants turn it into something not worth eating. Rubbery or dry, bland. Who wants that?

In addition, I love roasting chicken, and think it is something everyone should attempt to master at home. Finally, too many restaurants seem to have chicken on their menus as a concession, for diners who don’t want “meat” but will eat a bird because it’s healthy. (I’m leaving fried chicken out of this, because I have had some great plates of that delicacy at a number of places, including here.) These reasons, and more, cause me to experience extreme happiness when I happen upon a great poultry dish in a restaurant, which I did about 10 days ago.

It’s a new menu item at Tony’s: Amish hen, which is brined in a rosemary-infused medium, then grilled. It’s served over rapini and feta (and those two alone would be a perfect course … salty, tangy, earthy), and finished with a lemon/hen jus. I have tried it on several occasions, and each time it was everything a piece of chicken should be (once, the grilling went on perhaps a touch too long, imparting a slightly burnt taste, but that is a minor complaint). A charred lemon sits atop the chicken, and a soft squeeze adds more flavor to the dish, which is also pleasing to the eye.

Cutting into the meat, you’ll notice tenderness, and beautiful color. Taste the chicken alone, then the next piece with the rapini and feta. Ideal saltiness, a citrus undertone that makes you smile, and an altogether satisfaction. Drink it with the Chardonnay like this one, and you will be sated.