Dish of the Week: Chicken and Waffles at Restaurant 3
If you ever had any doubts about a dish’s ability to cross cultural boundaries, all you need to do is look at the trajectory of chicken and waffles. Once considered a staple of soul-food joints, chicken and waffles has become a fixture at trendy neighborhood operations like Marvin and Creme, where gentrification has ensured that the dish enjoys a much wider audience.
It has even filtered down to genuine suburban haunts like Restaurant 3, the Southern-minded eatery in Clarendon that, believe it or not, does a version of C&W far superior to the one at Marvin. And for $15 a plate on the brunch menu, Restaurant 3 also does it a buck cheaper than Marvin.*
The key to chef Brian Robinson’s chicken and waffles is the bird, a generous hunk of (mostly) breast meat that’s thickly coated and fried to just the edge of greasiness. Technically, I believe this is called an airline cut, which seems to be making a comeback in the Baltimore area. Whatever you call it, though, Robinson’s bird provides that salty and savory counterpoint to the sweet waffle — not to mention a nice crispy fried-chicken crackle against the soft, syrupy buttermilk pillow.
This dish, in fact, may be the ultimate brunch option. It combines breakfast and lunch in a way that eggs and pancakes can’t begin to touch.
* Correction: The brunch (and not dinner) price for Marvin’s chicken and waffles is $13, which makes it $2 cheaper than Restaurant 3’s.
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Linked From: November 4th, 2009NoVA Bows to Southern Favorite | Northern Virginia Magazine
4:48 pm[...] pop up everywhere from the Wine Kitchen’s dinner carte to Restaurant 3’s retooled brunch offerings to Eventide’s just updated lounge [...]
11:07 am
Wait, so question: Is there usually maple syrup involved in a dish like this, or any other sweetener or moistener for the waffle?
11:24 am
Orr,
There is indeed a side of maple syrup, which helps bring the two bites together.
You should also know, if you don’t already, that Restaurant 3 has a serious beer program. 80-plus bottles available, including a good number of regional microbrews.
-Tim
-Tim
7:27 pm
A quick fact check on Marvin’s website shows that their chicken & waffles is $13 at brunch.
11:07 pm
Brian,
You are so right. That’s my bad. I will amend the blog item. Thanks for the correction.
-Tim