By Mike Kostyo
Cody Ginther
It turns out that there are still creative iterations of the ever-popular and ubiquitous fried chicken. Nowhere is that more evident than at the Latin-inspired restaurant Lírica, where the crowd-pleasing classic gets an upscale makeover. The concept’s gluten-free Spanish Fried Chicken starts, of course, with fried chicken and is given a clever crunch factor with a combination of cornflakes and salty Spanish almonds. A warm, rich morita chile mole, featuring smoky, fruity peppers, provides a beautiful and flavorful base for the chicken, which is topped with bright, cool, tart grapefruit and a nutty, fresh Marcona almond gremolata, building flavor upon flavor. The finishing touch? Fresh, sweet honeycomb, which is a perfect partner for the savory chicken.
Surprisingly, the dish had been 86’d during a period of early menu reconfiguration. But after joining the team, Cody Ginther, Culinary Director, had the opportunity to sample the dish at an event and immediately fell in love. It had to return. “With little convincing needed to persuade the rest of the team, it was back on the menu and selling like crazy, which it still continues to do every day,” says Ginther.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mike Kostyo is the VP of Menu Matters, a private consultancy that works with foodservice professionals to analyze, understand and leverage food and beverage, industry and consumer trends. Kostyo has been a recurring guest on Fusion TV’s “The A.V. Club” show; has been featured on NBC News, CBS Radio and Gimlet Media’s “Why We Eat What We Eat” podcast; is regularly featured in newspapers and magazines; speaks at numerous conferences across the country; and was a judge on Food Network’s “Eating America.” For over a decade, he was the resident Trendologist and an Associate Director at Datassential, one of the food industry's leading insights companies. Kostyo has a master’s in Gastronomy from Boston University, plus certificates in the culinary arts, baking arts, wine and artisan cheese production. He is a regular contributor to Flavor & The Menu and can be reached at [email protected].
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