ABOUT HELL CHICKEN

When exactly Hell Chicken originated is unclear, but it was sometime in the Spring of 2016. Searching for an excuse for a Sunday grill ritual to bring diners into the bar on what was usually a quiet day on a sleepy corner in Greenpoint, we started cooking chickens sourced from Marc and Sue Jaffe of Snowdance Farm in Livingston Manor, NY, between two fires known in South America as the infernillo, “little hell.” The technique progressed organically, as did the design of the grill, which started as a simple fire table constructed by 9 stories furniture, a few poles to form a rack from the hardware store, and mismatched cinderblocks and stones found in the parking space behind the bar. As the weeks went by, we started incorporating Staub Dutch ovens to hold the chickens after they had been grilled; unexpectedly, we realized they were catching pools of cooking juices that tasted of concentrated flavors. We found that after they finished cooking in the pots, if grilled again, the sequence produced a crispy, glassy skin, while retaining all of the juices in the vessel. 

To put it simply, the chicken has a 3-step cooking ritualized process: smoke, steam, and grill. Each layer adds a special dimension of flavor, culminating in a uniquely juicy, crispy, charred, and unctuous bite. 

After a splashy article was published in the New York Times in the summer of 2016, the journey began again, and the final Hell Chicken was grilled at Achilles Heel in October 2018. Notable diners were with Jose Andres and Ferran Adria. Shortly after, I packed up to head west to cook at Scribe Winery in Sonoma, sometimes cooking dinners and events featuring Hell Chicken. Naturally, it developed into its own event. Sometimes, nostalgic diners at Achilles' Heel would ask me to cook their wedding; other times, I would be invited by a winery to cook for an intimate members' event. Slowly and gradually, the spirit has endured for ten expansive years. Surfacing across the country and beyond, the project has always been without peer or parallel.  Now firmly grounded in the environs of Sonoma County, Hell Chicken is not just a grilled chicken; it is an ethos and an experience.