Every Buffalonian (native or naturalized) has their favorite wing joint. Ask anyone and they will passionately defend “their” local pizzeria/restaurant. Go ahead, ask the guy in the cube next to yours….see what’d I tell ya.
The real question is, what makes a good chicken wing? Or taking it further, what makes the perfect chicken wing?
This is the challenge that eight strangers have set out to conquer. The international team is on a 2 week hunt for the perfect chicken wing. The hunt started in Manhattan on August 18th, travels through Rochester, and will culminate in Buffalo on September 2nd, coordinating with the National Buffalo Wing Festival.
Heading the expedition is Matt Reynolds, a Reuters journalist born and raised in Lyons, NY who presently resides in Slovakia. He is producing The Great Chicken Wing Hunt documentary along with Drew “The Wing King” Cerza. If you don’t know Cerza as the founder of the National Buffalo Wing Festival, surely you know him from the Food Network’s Throwdown with Bobby Flay where Cerza beat Flay in a challenge held at Anchor Bar. Also on board are, Dave Reynolds (Matt Reynolds’ dad), Thor, a semi-pro eater (record: 93 wings in 15 minutes), Lucie Mayerova (statistician), Ric Kealoha (chef, med student, soon-to-be father), Al Caster (guitarist), Martin Dinga (Slovak actor, interpreter), and Ron Wieszczyk (Kodak research technician, native Buffalonian).
The last few days of filming will be done in Buffalo, and I personally am looking forward to the statistics (like total wings eaten) from the adventure which involves eating wings 3 times a day and traveling through 30 towns and cities in New York State.
Also coinciding with this weekend’s National Buffalo Wing Festival is the induction of Jim Disbrow and Scott Lowery into the Buffalo Wing Hall of Flame. Lowery and the late Disbrow founded Buffalo Wild Wings, essentially bringing the Buffalo wing to Wall Street. Of course there are the regular events of the National Buffalo Wing Festival this weekend as well. See you at Dunn Tire Park.
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