Sean Evans and Adam Richman’s Quest for the Best Chicken Wings | Pro Moves

Pro Moves is back, baby! On the Season 3 premiere, host Adam Richman is on a mission to find some of the best chicken wings New York has to offer. Joining Adam on this poultry adventure is none other than our very own Sean Evans! As the host of Hot Ones, Sean has eaten more than 3,000 drums and flats for the internet’s amusement. But can Adam still blow Sean’s mind by introducing him to a secret off-menu wing available at one of NYC’s most iconic restaurants? Before sitting down for dinner with Sean, Adam first breaks down the dos and don’ts for eating Buffalo wings at a Scarsdale institution, Candlelight Inn. Then he heads to Rockaway, Queens to sample a southern-style wing at Goody’s with friend Rob Martinez. Get ready as Adam embarks on a chicken wing quest for the ages!

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in construction, in architecture, in crisp, in size, in the way that it’s kind of falling off the bone. Textbook perfect. That was exceptional. That’s so good. [Music] It’s probably very surprising considering our current cultural fascination with them, but for a long time, the chicken wing was the least desirable part of the animal. Now, it’s the cornerstone of nationwide billiondoll businesses. It’s the food stuff of our biggest gatherings. And of course being here on First We Feast, the chicken wing has been the cornerstone of our flagship show, Hot Ones. Well, speaking of Hot Ones of I’m going to do a First We Feast show about wings. Well, I have to include the most killer individual out of Crystal Lake. It’s Jason Vorhees, the one, the only Hot Ones host, Sean C. Evans. And I get to show him a top secret, hidden off the menu wing he’s never tried before. But before that, I’m going to take you to two iconic New York wing institutions. I’m going to head to Rockaway with my buddy Rob Martinez to try a southern take on the chicken wing. And our first destination is right here in a place I used to live, Westchester County. Candlelight in. For decades, they have been serving up some of the most beloved buffalo wings in all of New York. And I promise you this, I will bring you some delicious, tasty, spicy, and deeply useful wing pro moves so that you can get the most out of your wing experience. So now off to Candelite to get our local bite of a bit of buffalo. [Music] Oh man, this paper’s a landing pad for greatness. In case you make a mess. Oh, it’ll happen. It’ll happen. Well, one thing that you’re going to notice right away off the rip is a candleite doesn’t separate their wings. Want to know the main reason they do it? To prove to you that they’re fresh. A lot of places get their wings already pre-cut and frozen, and they fry what comes out of a bag. The traditional sauce that one thinks of for a buffalo sauce is usually Frank’s Red Hot and butter or margarine. I like that their hot sauce is a bit thick. It’s not quite opaque and the wings are fried naked, which means that there is no batter, no breadcrumbs, no coating. It’s okay to order your wings crispy or well done. Some people use the nomenclature to fry hard. It just means a little bit longer in the fryer because you don’t have a batter. You need that crunch before you get to the juicy meat. They usually fry them and then they spin them right before your order comes out. They’re spinning thousands and thousands of wings a day. They’re not going to coat every single square inch. So, my other pro move for you. Order an extra side of the sauce. So, the flatten drum debate, it’s kind of like aisle seats and window seats. We all have our preference and we all have our reason for them. They’re both delicious. Come on, it’s wings. Let’s start with awesome and work our way back, shall we? I personally have always preferred the drum. I like the ease of eating. I like that big sort of juicy bite you can take like King Arthur. There’s lots of these great jagged edges where the fry can happen to create even more crunchiness. Now, the great thing about blue cheese to me is a it has a bite of its own, but Candlelight uses good quality blue cheese. And that’s my other pro move. If you’re going to order blue cheese, make sure it has chunks of blue cheese in it. So, I’ve coated it with extra hot. I’m now going to actually instead of the dip so I don’t ruin the blue cheese. Oh, look at that. Just everything growing bues. It’s like a savory spicy umami lollipop. So, now we come to the flat. And a lot of people claim the flats have more flavor. And it makes sense to a degree, right? There’s one bone in the drum and there’s two that run through the flat. The thing is, how do you eat a flat? I used to hate having to do the harmonica thing and you kind of push the meat through and then I looked on the interwebs. Get a good pinch on one end of it, push down, and now you sort of have chicken lollipop. You do get all the flavor from the two bones that run through it, but a greater ease of dipping. Don’t worry, I’m a professional. And a location specific pro move that I was told my first visit here to Candlelight get their waffle fries. When the wings are done, there’s always going to be that bit of sauce at the bottom of the bowl. Oh yeah. It’s like um getting shrimp scampy and wanting to soop up the sauce, right? You have to remember that’s not just hot sauce anymore. It’s all the juices running out of the hot chicken. So, it has a much deeper, more complex flavor profile. We have a rare opportunity on Pro Moves. We have a Buffalo specialist, a Buffalo icon. Get in there like swimwear. I mean, the smell’s right, you know. I don’t want to break it for you. I thought a man should break his own wing. I’m a drum guy. So, good enough to jump through a table. I jumped through three tables. I’ve been trying to find a good wing for years. And I guess I just had to go north a little bit. In the wing darkness, look for the candle light. [Music] There is a strip of land just south of Jamaica Bay and Kennedy airport and it is called Rockaway. Home of great surfing and in fact my prom date. Shout out Mary Resnik. I think that was her up the road. Now the gentleman to my right, he is someone that is no stranger to the first we feast family. If you see a guy who is lifting up his fellow man in independent restaurants like [ __ ] Atlas, it’s this guy right here, Rob Martinez. What’s going on? Can I ask you an honest question? How did you find this place? The thing about the Rockaways, as you know, is that it’s almost segregated. There’s a lot of redlinining that happened here in the past. And so, you kind of have to go into the West Indian and Black community that’s here. And when you do that, you find everybody talking about goodies. This is like the ultimate word of mouth place in the Rockways. I don’t think a lavalier mic has been in this building. Holding for airplane. That’s uh Sean Evans in his private plane. For our next segment, say hi to Matt Damon. As I started to talk to Joan and Gary, I realized that their story of who they are is kind of the menu of the place. It’s West Indian meets black southern food. And once I had that fried chicken, I was like, “This place is a spot, man.” Now, I’ve heard that they sell fried chicken, but for the wings, like that’s the jump off. That’s the one that if you don’t get here early enough that they’re they’re gone by midday or something. Yeah, you’re likely to find a drumstick here more than a wing cuz the wings just go. But the thing is that the place is so popular in the community that it’s things are pretty fresh. They’re turning it out all day. Lead on, my friend. Let’s go. Let’s go. [Music] Adam, meet Joan and Gary. Full establishment. How you doing? Good, sir. Lovely to meet you, Gary. Oh, these are Rockaway Legends. They built this place from the ground up. Gary, you basically were telling me when you guys first opened, your mother was like, “You’re crazy to open in this location.” But you were like, “As long as I have Jones cooking, we’re good.” I said, “You know, the only thing I’m worried about is how are we going to handle the rush?” The first time I tasted cooking, I was like, I would go anywhere. And this guy when he first had my fried chicken. See, Jamaicans don’t really like uh chicken skin. That’s that I learned to cook the I said, “What am I doing?” That’s the best part. So, where’d you grow up? The West Coast. Uh Tacoma. My father was in the service. So he met my mother in Japan. So I had my father’s southern background and my mother’s Japanese. Where in the south was dad from? Mobile, Alabama. I know. Mobile. So that’s where the ribs come from. And the the fried chicken basically. It’s no big deal. It’s just a good taste. It’s not anything special. They’re not hot. They’re just a good tasting fried wing. Nice and crispy. That’s about it. Now what’s this? I hear about you piercing the wing. Okay. So when I would fry them, all of my crust would fall off and I would have like naked looking wings and I didn’t like that. When you put the wing skin side up and it’s frying, it puffs up and that’s what was knocking off my crust. So by piercing I said I’m going to jab it in a certain spot and and and when you put the chicken in, you put it in skin side down first. So that solidifies that crust. Then you can turn it over and it won’t puff up anymore. Is it true the wings all sell out by noon or something like this? You know, sometimes the skinny on the interwebs. And then again, could you trust them? They said I died seven years ago. Let’s have some food, I guess. Let’s try these fried chicken wings, shall we? Thanks, Joan. [Music] This is some of the most beautiful looking chicken I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if they’ve ever served anybody a a full tray of wings cuz they’re coveted. First of all, as she was saying, the the batter does not detach, which is killer, which is super difficult. Well, it’s just all that dredge that she does back there, you know. I mean, you know, it’s going to have this deep crunch without it being like overloaded with batter. Now, we have amazing sort of spiced chutney that Joan said she just whipped up. I convinced her very handsome husband to give us some jerk sauce. He said some people come in and they ask for the wings with the oxtail gravy. It’s a pro move. So, shall we just go in for the wing first? This is going to be amazing. Young Sue, could you bring the boom in cuz this crunch is going to be epic. And if it post if it’s a loud crunch, can you shake the frame a little bit? All right. Cheers. Oh, that’s phenomenal. It’s so tender, man. Very often fried chicken is about the batter, the crunch. This chicken devoid of that delicious crispy skin is was like perfectly cooked chicken. Mhm. I mean, it’s crazy just how tender this white meat is. It’s soft. It’s delicious. It’s so lovingly made. It’s so well seasoned. Thank god. You don’t need condiments on it. I’m glad you mentioned that. I know. It’s the truth. Look, I’m literally pulling the bones directly out of it. Clean like this. Picture perfect fried chicken. The perfect color. Perfectly blonde. Made by an expert in a word of- mouth place since the 80s. This is spectacular. Chew pepper sausage. Absolutely. John, whipped that up for us. Hells yeah. Here we go. Wow. Cheers. Cheers, man. That is so freaking perfect. That’s different, man. Yo, that’s crazy. Do you love oxtail? Oh, yeah. I’ve never seen this before. Nor have I. Can we get like some of that stripper music? [Music] You might have actually died seven years ago in this. Exactly. That’s yummy, man. You are a handsome, educated, and wonderful man. And I love you dearly with all of my heart. And may all your dreams come true. And may your pillow always be cold. Wow. That tastes like a back rub feels. That oxtail gravy is the umami bomb you have been looking for. Oh yeah. That’s crazy. That is un unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. Oh my god. Oh my god. Holy moly. Look at this heath. That’s like a Green Beret field stripping an M16. You got to pay respect. You know, you are amazing. And this should prove to you what a divining rod this gentleman is for finding great food. We are going to have one more wing exploration and we head to the burrow of Manhattan. So, we get to sit down with a man who has interviewed so many Oscar winners he vaguely resembles an Academy Award. Sorry, that’s [ __ ] up. I’m sorry. Sean, we’ve never met. I don’t know this guy. It’s all love. Till then, Rob and I have delicious food to eat. So, you can just go rock away. So, our final stop on this parapotetic promise poultry adventure is right here at one of Manhattan’s most legendary, revered, and iconic restaurants, Amelio’s Batto. Since 1956, Amelio’s has become known for dishing up some of the most delicious and most consistently delicious old school Italian food. The pastas are spectacular. The bone in V Antonio is a certified culinary masterpiece, but those in the know that one of the true culinary gems is the off menu chicken scar parella wings. So, it is time to introduce these legendary wings to a true wing legend. Now, I promised you an iconic guest, and I have delivered a,000%. Someone whose demeanor is as warm as your favorite duvet. Whose appearance is as hot as black vinyl upholstery in a Mississippi summer. An interviewer whose skill and precision combines a neurosurgeon and a SWAT sniper. My friend Sean Evans. Come on, Adam. Well, you know what? I don’t know if I’ve ever ripped an intro like that. That was word perfect. No prompter. Off the top. I think it’s very interesting that both of our careers have been made to some extent by extreme eating. Yes. So, I did a challenge on Man Versus Food back in the day where I had to do 180 oysters. I couldn’t go near or touch an oyster for over three years. I’ve heard that you won’t even go near a chicken wing. Correct. That’s true. I mean, you know, just in my own estimation, looking back on the 10 years plus of doing the show, you know, I’ve eaten 3,500 to 4,000 wings like just for the internet’s amusement over that time. So, it’s not something I’m seeking out. But, I will say, where would I be without the chicken wing? You know, the chicken wing has given me so much in my career that it’s a complicated relationship. Yes, I’m not enthusiastically ordering wings when I’m off the clock, but at the same time, I have a deep profound love, admiration, and respect for the chicken wing. Are you more a fan of a drum or a flat? You know what? I think I started off as a fan of drums, but with age, experience, and a little sophistication. I think I’ve become a flats person. Like, a drum is kind of too It’s almost too cute for me at this point. You know, there’s just something more visceral and real about splitting and stripping a flat that I think I’ve like come to appreciate flats more over time. Have you eaten any? Part of the reason that brought me out, not just you, Adam. Oh, thank you. But it’s mostly you, but also just the chance to eat here, which I know it’s such an iconic spot. It’s such a tough table to get here. It is. They’re basically taking a dish that’s only a fine dining dish and reinterpreting it as a wing. This definitely has my spidey senses tingling. What is up? Oh, tell us what we’re looking at here, chef. So, these are a creation I came up with. It’s chicken scarp yellow wings, garlic, shallots, uh, sweet peppers, hot cherry peppers, red wine vinegar, a little lemon, couple spoons of the sweet brine that the peppers come in. Get out of here. I fried the wings, right? And then I put a little bit of the sauce on top and then mostly on the bottom. So, you want to keep it crispy. People that follow me on Instagram, I’ll post these. I’ll be like, “If you know, you know.” It’s like a secret menu kind of thing. So, when like our regulars come in, they’re like, “Do you have the chicken scariola wings today?” I’m like, “I got you.” This literally came to me drinking a beer on Super Bowl Sunday and I was It’s all great ideas. A little tipsy. And I was like, “You know what? I’m coming up with something. I’m going to try it in the kitchen.” And then it worked. Thank you so much, chef. Of course, guys. Enjoy. Okay. Thanks, buddy. Cheers. Cheers. Thank you, sir. Behold the perfect wing bite. [Music] Wow, that is exceptional. It’s so good. It’s delicious. Mhm. This is probably my ideal wing. Like in construction, in architecture, in crisp, in size, in the way that it’s kind of falling off the bone, like this is I think perfect on it. Textbook perfect. This is really incredible. It was interesting that you heard Anthony say he used the brine. It’s not so spicy. You think about banana pepper and cherry pepper. There is a little bit of tingle. Mhm. But I think what’s remarkable is that to balance the richness in the fry, it’s more sour. As jaded as I could possibly be about wings, like these are incredible, you know? Like I want to keep eating them. Now you’ve seen so many techniques. Whose techniques to approaching a wing have impressed you or surprised you the most? You were textbook. You were mechanical. You were Francisco Lindor turned into a double play. Bert Chryser, I remember having a kind of wing mechanic and he just had a way about it that I’m like that guy has been around a lot of wings. He would do that thing where you know he’s like splitting it and then like I’d look over at him and he’d be like and like clean it off the bone like that. You know, what I think is great about Hot Ones is a lot of times it’s just a canvas for a guest to paint on. You know, like if I think about Conan O’Brien, you know, he’s putting the bones into his pocket. Or Dave Gro is chasing every wing with a shot of whiskey. Or you’ll have someone like Gordon Ramsay. He’ll try to get out in front of it and he’ll bring a bunch of spice antidotes with him. Just when I think I’ve seen it all, something new comes up. I have to know. Do you have a favorite Hot Ones meme? I love the Idris Alba choking that. What the [ __ ] Like I’ve seen that a thousand times and I’ve laughed at it a thousand times. It never gets old. Jack face is great. Obviously Paul Rudd. Look at us. Hey, look at us. Look at us. Huh? Who would have thought? Not me. When you guys filmed, was it just instant love? Is that where it all began? Yeah. I think there’s a good natural chemistry and he’s just a great talk show guest. I think that there are certain personalities that just kind of mesh with the bizarre construct of a talk show in a unique way and he’s one of them. You know, Frank Langello once said, “If you’re the perfect person for the job, it doesn’t matter if you’re living in the middle of the woods, the job will find you.” And I think realistically, there’s not a person alive that could do it could do it as well as you. Having done the show with you twice, the one element that I think everyone is missing is how much you take care of the guest, the warmth with which you approach it, how kind you are as an individual, how smart you are as an interviewer. And I think the truth of the matter is, allow me to wax rapidic on the subject matter here is simply the wing. And it is arguably one of the cuts that went from being junk to being the actual edible lynchpin of the great moments of our lives. The games we watch with our friends, the bars that we go to to laugh and tell stories, the interviews that we love watching. There is this simple edible vehicle. It can be altered to become mindbendingly painful or incredibly flavorful. So you don’t have to have a plan when you want to go out and eat something delicious. You could always just wing it. And if I die before you, will you ulogize me? [ __ ] yes. There’s no I do know you have a particular favorite player from the Chicago Bears. So I actually got you a Deon Hester rookie card. My gosh. That’s just a small token of my appreciation for you both being on my for being an example for me to follow as a host and as an interviewer and just for being my friend, man. Well, I appreciate this so much.