Travel Channel brings ‘Food Wars’ to Buffalo's wings
Published: January 06, 2010, 6:51 am
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In the glare of television lights, 60 people waited anxiously for Jennifer Starkey to settle a burning question that has divided Buffalonians for 40 years.
Whose chicken wings reign supreme?
The occasion late last month was the arrival of the crew of a Travel Channel cable television show called "Food Wars," aimed at tackling America's most famous food rivalries. Half of a side room at the Anchor Bar on Main Street was stuffed with insignia-clad fans of Anchor Bar chicken wings. Across the aisle were the faithful of Duff's, making pilgrimage from Sheridan at Millersport in Amherst.
As cameras rolled, Sabres broadcaster Rob Ray chose Wing B. The newspaper food writer chose Wing A, and longtime fans of both places split, too. So it fell to Jennifer Starkey, Miss Buffalo Wing 2008, to settle the question. No pressure.
"It's a 2-2 split," crowed announcer Camille Ford. "Miss Buffalo Wing, what's your vote?"
Her answer sparked pandemonium: Chanting, sign-waving, a spicy bucket of cheers mixed with groans. What she chose will have to remain a mystery until the show's expected March airing.
What's absolutely guaranteed is that whatever her answer, legions will leap at the chance to argue it. "Who has the best wings?" is a verbal hand grenade in tight spaces, sparking arguments wherever Western New Yorkers gather.
Multiple choice
It's no surprise that there are more than two answers. Not a few people back Bar Bill's in East Aurora, or LaNova's on West Ferry. Canadians arriving in the Anchor Bar parking lot that Sunday morning, disappointed to discover the Anchor Bar didn't start serving until noon, had the name of Allen Street's Gabriel's Gate on their lips.
There's no arguing the originator, Anchor Bar, is the most famous, known worldwide. But when it came time to pick a challenger for the title bout, said ex-Buffalonian series producer Scott Miller, the choice was obvious: Duff's.
Miller's position is supported by the Magna Carta of chicken wing scholarship, "An Attempt to Compile a Short History of the Buffalo Chicken Wing," by noted New Yorker magazine food writer Calvin Trillin.
Even in 1980, when Trillin made his pilgrimage to Buffalo to trace the chicken wing back to its roots, he made Duff's, "a noted chicken-wing center," his first tour stop after the Anchor Bar.
Miller acknowledged that lots of Western New York wings could have been worthy challengers.
"For one day, we declare a winner," said Miller, fresh from filming a challenge between two top Chicago hot beef places. "The show says it's up to you — the viewer — to go to these places and decide for yourself."
The Anchor Bar vs. Duff's tilt would provide an answer for one day, he said. "But it's up to you to come out and decide what the truth is."
Many eaters fly the flag for their corner pizzeria. It makes sense when you consider one of the most important elements of a quality wing: time to table. Twenty minutes in a plastic takeout container will steam most of the satisfying crispiness into flabby skin territory, where not even the most perfectly piquant sauce will save them.
That's why chicken wing lovers have been all about eating local, long before the first locavores got giddy over their neighborhood Swiss chard.
When Rob Ray encountered his first wings in 1989 as a Sabres rookie, the veterans took him to their favorite places: Rootie's Pump Room, now closed, and Elmo's. Both were on Millersport Highway in Amherst, chosen primarily for proximity, Ray said.
"Everybody lived out there," Ray said before the taste-off. "We practiced at Sabreland, on Niagara Falls Boulevard, so everybody lived out in that area." In fact, Ray said, until the Travel Channel event, he had never been to the Anchor Bar for wings.
Level frying field
In the challenge at the Anchor Bar, manager Ivano Toscani graciously allowed his rival, Duff's owner Jeff Feather, to cook his entries in an Anchor Bar fryer, guaranteeing a level playing field.
The five tasters slipped on blindfolds. Then each was brought a single sauced wing on a plate. On command, they bit. On command, they chewed thoughtfully. After a bit of napkin work, they offered their insights to the lens.
The second wing got the same reception. Afterward, both of the "superfans," partisans each boasting of more than 30 years of wing worship, were certain they knew who was who.
In the end, all eyes were on Starkey, who described herself as a regular eater of wings.
After her ruling, and the din died down, the camera crews conferred about what shots came next.
In the quiet after the cameras stopped rolling, Starkey tried to offer an olive branch — a celery stick? — of peace.
"In my defense, I thought they were both very, very good," she said.
No dice. Her diplomatic efforts were met with a chorus of boos.
But that didn't ruin her appetite. "I'm hungry," she said, echoing complaints from other tasters that they only had gotten two chicken digits. "I want some wings."
"Food Wars" begins March 9 on the Travel Channel and will run Tuesdays at 10 p.m.
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