Stephen Tanner is sick and tired of fried chicken. Cornered one night at Egg, his last place of employ, the founding chef of the now-defunct Pies-n-Thighs voices his irritation with the dish’s ubiquity. “You can even get it in the bowling alley,” he gripes, speaking of Blue Ribbon’s Cajun-spiced version at Brooklyn Bowl. It’s true—and partially Tanner’s own fault—that the nexus of New York fried chicken has shifted, seemingly overnight, from Harlem, where such faded relics as M&G Diner and Pan Pan have gone under, to Williamsburg and Greenpoint, where the down-home flavor fits the boho-hipster vibe. There’s greasy-spoon chicken (Jimmy’s Diner), chicken and cocktails (Walter Foods), and “chicken-fried chicken” (Enid’s). Even the vegan fast-food joint, Foodswings, serves southern-fried “drumsticks.” You can trace the dish’s trajectory from Pies-n-Thighs, to Egg, where Tanner reproduced his flour-and-seltzer recipe, over to Roberta’s in Bushwick, where fellow P-n-T veteran Carolyn Bane can be found cooking “Bane’s Fried Chicken” for culinary pilgrims like Michel Bras, who tucked into a crispy serving when he passed through town recently. This fall, Bane and partner Sarah Buck will reopen Pies-n-Thighs in new digs, this time without Tanner. He’s rumored to be involved with a new project of his own at the former Black Betty space nearby, which Tanner says will serve bar food like Applebee’s, “but better.” And will there be fried chicken? “Maybe a thigh.”
1. Brooklyn Label
180 Franklin St., at Java St.; 718-389-2806
2. Enid’s
560 Manhattan Ave., at Driggs Ave.; 718-349-3859
3. Jimmy’s Diner
577 Union Ave., nr. N. 10th St.; 718-218-7174
4. Roberta’s
261 Moore St., nr. Bogart St.; 718-417-1118
5. Foodswings
295 Grand St., nr. Havemeyer St.; 718-388-1919
6. Unnamed Stephen Tanner Project
366 Metropolitan Ave., nr. Havemeyer St.
7. Dante’s
1 Hope St., at Roebling St.; 718-599-1945
8. Walter Foods