First Look: Choptank’s Fried Chicken

Arthur Bovino — January 14, 2010

Choptank’s Fried Chicken with Black Pepper Honey.

Back in May, we told you about the Fried Chicken that Chef Matthew Schaefer was serving at Mermaid Inn in the East Village. It was the restaurant’s obligatory non-seafood item, and for what it was, it was quite good. Schaefer, who left Mermaid Inn last July, is now at the helm of the just opened Choptank, and he took his recipe for fried chicken with him.

Fried Chicken ($20) isn’t the only meat item on the menu at Choptank. It’s joined by several others, including the Virginia Ham Plate, a tasty Steak with Sweetbread Gravy, and of course, the obligatory burger. But Schaefer has reassembled the dish and he seems to have fine-tuned its preparation. The Mermaid Inn served three large, incredibly moist and juicy pieces. There are a few more pieces on this plate and while it’s still juicy, it’s not quite as wet, so the fried exterior seems to adhere better. The crumbly corn bread is gone, and the oversalted collard greens are now something to finish eating. There’s also a small saucer of black pepper honey, for dipping.