My love affair with fried chicken began when I was about 6 or 7 years old. There were a few months we lived with my grandparents when I was a kid and my grandfather loved to cook fried chicken. I asked him how/why it tasted so good and he told me his three secrets: he marinaded it in Sprite, seasoned it with MSG and fried it in lard. I remember my cousins and I would sit around the kitchen table and eat piece after piece, almost in a race to see who could eat more. Lucky for us, we were rail thin and had super fast metabolism. I asked him where he learned to cook and that’s when I first learned that he was in the army. He said his job was too cook for hundreds of men so he learned to cook in bulk but with flavor because apparently men in the military at the time were very opinionated about food.

Decades later, I still crave a crispy perfectly seasoned fried chicken. Luckily, Honey’s Kettle moved into my neighborhood. It’s one of my usual haunts I frequent shamelessly once or twice a month. Today’s meal, however, was exceptional. By some stroke of luck, there was no line at lunchtime on a Saturday! It turns out their credit card reader wasn’t working but lucky for me, I always carry cash. I was quoted 5 minutes though it actually took about 10-12 minutes. As the expression goes, some things are worth the wait.

The three chicken thighs were just right out of the fryer. The skin was unbelievably crispy and the meat was piping hot with steam rising as I peeled off the outer layer. It was so hot, I had to let the thigh sit naked. As the inner layer was cooling off, I munched on the skin which was so crisp I could hear it crunching and crackling as I chewed. The equally freshly fried potatoes had the perfect ratio of salt, black pepper and rosemary. The just-out-of-the-oven buttermilk biscuit had a slightly toasted outer layer which melded flavors of butter and salt as I bit into the moist, flaky center.
Eating the delicious fried chicken at Honey’s Kettle always brings me back to my childhood and though my grandfather is long gone, he would appreciate the deliciousness and perfection that is Honey’s Kettle.

Honey’s Kettle

9537 Culver Blvd.

Culver City, CA 90232

http://honeyskettle.com