Thursday, July 24, 2014

The Fried Chicken at Root & Bone & National Ice Cream Day

Last Sunday, I had the best day ever.  I'm pretty sure it was a lot better than yours.  And yours.  And yes, you too.

It began at Root & Bone, in the most letter-friendly part of the city (Alphabet City ! Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!).


I met up with Jean and David who diligently put our names down for a table and patiently waited around for 1.5 hours until the table was ready.  True friendship, guys.


The restaurant is rustic and adorable - whitewashed, wood furniture and biscuit smells everywhere

So of course I had to get some.


The biscuits come three to an order with a side of chicken au jus sauce and a pile of sesame seeds that always make everything extra delicious.


The biscuits are a bit on the harder side, dense and flat, but soften up well in the sauce.  I'd probably skip these and just eat a lot more of everything else.

Because, let me just get it out of the way - Root & Bone is some of the best fried chicken I've ever had.  

It's a bold statement.  I want to doubt myself for saying it - I feel your incredulity already, but it's true !

Root & Bone is flexible with how you order the chicken - you can do half baskets (4 pieces), full baskets or any kind of baskets, which is what I did, cause it's all about the thighs, baby.


Just look at that lusty, lusty crust, lightly sprinkled with soft sugar flakes, because chicken skin makes the best kind of dessert you can ever have.


The chicken itself is incredibly succulent, brined overnight in sweet tea (which you should also order here because it's the right amount of tasty) and oh so flavorful.  Coupled with that crisp skin, each bite is absolute perfection, though most of us liked to peel the skin off to eat at the end, savoring the very best for last.


Jean and David did the noble thing of sharing two plates - a half basket of chicken in addition to the shrimp and grits, which looked freakin' spectacular.


They also shared a side of cheddar cheese waffles with whiskey syrup because they're madmen.


The boy had the impressive chicken and waffles sandwich - juicy chicken breast pieces and green tomatoes hugged by two cheddary waffles.


While the chicken was impeccable in sandwich form, the waffles are surprisingly dense - thick, doughy, and super filling - so choose your carbs carefully if you want more room for that sweet, sweet chicken.

Heather, Harry and Anne showed up later, nabbing three seats at the window.

The best part of the window seats is that we can continue the eating experience from the outside!


Jean contemplating more bites of chicken or mac 'n cheese.


I think these happy faces reflect all the glory that is Root & Bone!


The boy and I continued our day's adventure to Hester Street Fair to celebrate one of the best days of the year, National Ice Cream Day !

The market housed about a dozen little vendors, but the chewy Turkish ice cream from Lezzetli,


drew his attention.  You should have seen his grin as he peeled back the lid to his ridiculously chewy ice cream made out of goat milk (and hence, lactose-free-friendly!).


Flavors of vanilla and herbs permeated each fun spoonful.


Never able to resist anything dreamsicle, I grabbed a popsicle from Mom & Popsicles (also who can resist a good company pun name).



The ice cream was quite tart, flecked with bits of lemon zest and slightly creamy from the low-fat yogurt - a refreshing afternoon treat after a belly full of fried chicken.


Summer days really can't get much better than this.

Han's Nonsensical Rating: I think I might start working out just to eat more fried chicken from Root & Bone. It's my new favorite-favorite that I hope you try SUPER SOON (and invite me to eat your skin! That sounds gross, and I don't care!!).

Root & Bone
200 E 3rd St, New York, NY 10009
Root & Bone on Urbanspoon

Lezzetli Ice Cream

Mom & Popsicles
Hester Street Fair
Hester St & Essex
New York, NY

1 comment:

  1. it is torturous sitting here and not being able to eat that fried chicken with the sugar flakes. SUGAR FLAKES. brb, gonna go put sugar flakes on my salad...

    ReplyDelete