Have you made New Year’s Eve plans yet? Some of the city’s best restaurants are releasing limited prix-fixe menus and festive cocktails to mark the occasion, but there’s no reason you can’t bring the same spirit to at-home celebrations or low-key gatherings with friends.
Why not sparkling wine paired with fried chicken? Trust us, the crisp acidity of the sparkling wine cuts through the fried chicken’s fat and breading — and complements the crunch — making them an ideal duo.
And L.A. of course has an abundance of diverse wine shops and famous fried chicken spots that make the festive meal a convenient option for New Year’s Eve or any occasion.
Here are six favorite fried chicken and sparkling wine pairings from restaurants and bottle shops across the city:
Tallyrand fried chicken with 2023 Delphinium ‘California Cremant’ from Altadena Beverage and Market
The fried chicken from Tallyrand in Burbank (three pieces, mashed potatoes and coleslaw for $19.95) may be the most dependable plate of fried poultry in town. It’s a deep amber color with a craggy coating that can withstand multiple dunks in hot sauce, ranch or gravy. It’s even better cold the next day. It pairs well with any wine crowded with fine bubbles, nice acidity and a flavor profile that leans more bakery than garden. If the wine smells like brioche or toast, it will do. I like to pair mine with a bottle of the 2023 Delphinium ‘California Cremant,’ ($45) recommended by and available at Altadena Beverage and Market. It’s a pleasant mix of those familiar bready aromas but with a hint of citrus and nice minerality. And it enhances the crunch of the chicken beautifully. — Jenn Harris
Tallyrand, 1700 W. Olive Ave., Burbank, (818) 846-9904, thetallyrand.com ; Altadena Beverage and Market, 1850 Allen Ave., Pasadena, (626) 298-6833, www.altadenabev.com
Gol Tong Chicken with La Famille Mosse ‘Nakatomi’ from Bar Etoile
This Koreatown restaurant’s fried chicken — adorned with slices of citrus, avocado, cherries, raspberries, pomegranate and beyond — is always festive. The platters at Gol Tong Chicken come stacked so high that they become a towering game of poultry Jenga, the tenders and freshly cut fruit toppling over at any second. When ordered to-go, chef-owner and Korean film director Kil Chae Jeong fills styrofoam boxes so full that he tapes the gaping lids shut. If you’re pairing your chicken ($38.27 for one and a half chickens, $72.89 for two and a half chickens or $82 for three and a half chickens) with bubbly at home, grab one of those filled-to-bursting containers stuffed with his sauceless classic, the soy-garlic variety or the chile chicken — or, ideally, the “director’s cut,” which includes all three.
Then head to wine bar and restaurant Bar Etoile just a few blocks north or to its sibling nearby bottle shop, Domaine LA, where business partners Jill Bernheimer and Julian Kurland can recommend a litany of Champagnes and sparkling wines fit for any budget. I found La Famille Mosse’s Nakatomi Chenin Blanc pét-nat ($39) to be a perfect complement. The natural sweetness of its Colombard grapes draws out the fresh fruit and the brighter flavors in the sauces, while the finish is still light and crisp enough to cut the fried chicken. Plus, it’s perfect for cinephiles: Why not pair a film director’s fried chicken with a wine named for the fictional Nakatomi Plaza from “Die Hard”? — Stephanie Breijo
Gol Tong Chicken, 361 S. Western Ave., #101, Los Angeles, (213) 716-6116, instagram.com/goltongchicken; Domaine L.A. 6801 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 932-0280, domainela.com; Bar Etoile, 632 N. Western Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 380-5040, baretoile.com
Howlin’ Ray’s whole fried chicken (mild!) with Domaine des Grottes ‘Antilope’ from Cafe Triste
Nobody needs to tell you that Howlin’ Ray’s is party-starting fried chicken — a dozen wings come in the batter’s box ($44) and at medium-plus spicy, they put the “holy ___ !” in the holidays. But I want to make the case for a whole chicken (8 pieces, also for $44) — order it mild — paired with this particular nonalcoholic sparkler from Domaine des Grottes, an organic and biodynamic Gamay specialist from Saint-Étienne-des-Oullières village in Beaujolais. Winemaker Romain des Grottes blends some of my favorite fun wines, with or without alcohol (and with or without bubbles). His “Françoise Paradise” is Gamay with 2% raspberries. Who else could pull that off? Nonalcoholic “L’Antidote,” when it was released in 2016, was my introduction to stellar nonalcoholic wine, or maybe “wine.” His herbal concoctions are made with herbs that grow in the vineyards, transformational ingredients used to aromatize Gamay and apple juice, along with flowers and artemisia (related to mugwort and wormwood). The result is a drink as complex and beguiling as wine that’s also great with food.
“Antilope” ($46) is his latest bubbly (carbonated rather than fermented) nonalcoholic plants-and-fruit in a bottle — a sibling of “L’Antidote” that blends the juice of Malvasia grapes with juniper, gentian, artemesia and yarrow. Less sweet than “L’Antidote,” it’s off-dry with the acidity and herbal (even medicinal) bitterness that partner with the crunch and spice level of HR’s mild (“brush of heat”) fried chicken. “Antilope” is available at Psychic Wines and its offspring wine bar Cafe Triste, which is conveniently located down the street from the Chinatown location of Howlin’ Ray’s and sells retail bottles. — Betty Hallock
Howlin’ Ray’s, 727 N. Broadway #128, Los Angeles, (213) 935-8399., howlinrays.com; Cafe Triste, 980 N. Broadway, Los Angeles, (213) 278-0820, cafetristela.com; Psychic Wines, 2825 Bellevue Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 915-0600, psychicwines.com
Banana Leaf fried chicken with Pojer e Sandri ‘Zero Infinito’ from Lou Wine Shop
When contemplating wine choices in my house, we still adhere to the question first asked by my late husband and this paper’s former restaurant critic, Jonathan Gold: “What would Lou drink?”
Lou is Lou Amdur, who 20 years ago opened what Jonathan called one of L.A.’s first wine bars with a point of view — he taught a lot of us to love natural wine — and who now runs Los Feliz’s Lou Wine Shop, where you will always find something interesting to drink.
Contrary to thinking my request for an affordable fried chicken-friendly sparkling wine was odd, he came through in classic Lou fashion:
“Fried chicken and sparkling wine are a heavenly pairing,” he wrote in an email. “The carbonic acid in the bubbles acts as a refreshing, between-bite reset, leaving you wanting more chicken. You can undoubtedly find fried chicken satisfaction with a pricy, lees-y bottle of Champagne, but some of the autolytic complexity” — a.k.a. creaminess — “in that sort of wine gets overwhelmed by the onrush of fat. So, why open your wallet when a humbler bottle will do just as well, if not better? Here are two possibilities:
“Pojer e Sandri ‘Zero Infinito’ Sud Tirol, Italy sparkling white wine ($29) is from Südtirol, the German-speaking, mountainous region in northwestern Italy,” he said. “It’s made from solaris, a hybrid grape variety with an insanely complex lineage. Straw-yellow, delicately floral, moderately turbid, with only 12% ABV, it has a lovely balance between acidity and extract.
“Marco Carpineti ‘Kius’ Brut Lazio 2022 ($37) is a crispy, salty white made from Bellone, a variety that is indigenous to Lazio. Marco Carpineti has worked tirelessly to restore the heritage of Lazio’s grape varieties, some of which date back to Roman antiquity. Bellone is likely one of these antiques, though it’s safe to say that Caesar never tasted it as a brisk, fresh sparkling wine.”
And the fried chicken? I considered the four-piece Jidori Chongqing chicken ($34 for legs and thighs) from Firstborn in Chinatown. Then Thai fried chicken from Anajak Thai, or in sandwich form, always great, from Night + Market Song. But at the Indonesian restaurant Banana Leaf in Temple City, you can have your fried chicken four ways: a “crunchy” Jakarta-style Cornish hen (ayam kremes) covered with a layer of little fried crispy bits, Java-style “smashed” chicken (ayam penyet) with fresh shrimp paste chile, the more well-known ayam bumbu or “seasoned” fried chicken, and ayam kalasan or sweet marinated chicken. With rice and a bowl of spicy tamarind soup, each plate is $16.99. Or you can get a whole chicken, either ayam kremes or ayam kalasan for $17.99. All are excellent, but the smashed ayam penyet — which also comes in a smashed combination platter ($21.99) — with fried marinated beef was the crispest with many levels of spice, beautifully offset by bubbly wine. — Laurie Ochoa
Lou Wine Shop, 1911 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 305-7004, louwineshop.com; Banana Leaf, 5835 Temple City Blvd., Temple City, (626) 309-0209, instagram.com/bananaleaftemplecity
Albertsons on Crenshaw fried chicken with Days of Youth ‘The Diver’ from Triangle Wines
It’s unclear why the deli fried chicken at the Albertsons in the Crenshaw District is such a gold-star tradition in South L.A. Generations of locals seem to swear by it. Just as they must do in Gardena, where the local Albertsons and its fried chicken is also prized, and merited the No. 1 spot in Jenn Harris’ ranking of top grocery store fried chicken overall.
On Crenshaw Boulevard, people line up inside the store at all hours to whisk a few scarce fried chicken meals, while workers seem mostly preoccupied with rows of delivery app orders. On a recent visit, facing chicken trays filled only with crumbs and hankering hard for the bird, I impulsively went for a big pile of the available wings, mixing regular and spicy. They hit the spot: flavorful, well-seasoned, approachable (2.1 lbs. for $23.30). For New Year’s Eve, this chicken would pair nicely with a celebratory glass of the Diver, a tart crowd-pleasing California brut sparkling wine from Days of Youth. This bottle is from Triangle Wines in Westchester ($22), an upstart shop with cozy tasting service and a broad-based selection emphasizing Italy, France, Spain and California. — Daniel Hernandez
Albertsons, 3901 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 295-1919; Triangle Wines, 6235 W. 87th St., Los Angeles, instagram.com/trianglewines
Fried chicken from Alta with Bodkin Wines ‘Cuvée Agincourt’ from Adams Wine Shop
The entire menu at Alta demands to be ordered at one time or another — the black-eyed pea fritters with spicy herb sauce and cornbread with honey butter melting on top should mark the beginning of every shared meal among friends and the cornmeal pancake is a must at weekend brunch. But the fried chicken that Corbin deep-fries, par-bakes and finishes in a skillet should be ordered no matter what the occasion. There’s a reason the crispy bird is offered as an entree on both menus ($17 for three pieces; $32 for six pieces), served with the restaurant’s signature Fresno-chile hot sauce. The craggy, golden-brown exterior is well-seasoned, clinging to the juicy, tender meat underneath. You can count on all heads at the table bowing quietly in observance as everyone methodically strips each piece down to the bone.
You’ll find plenty of potential fried chicken pairings at the restaurant’s bar — the Old Dirty Bastard martini for a briny, puckery counterbalance, or That Pink Drink, with floral and spicy notes that play off the chicken beautifully. But I’d direct you to the adjoining wine shop’s list instead, which favors BIPOC and women winemakers.
Self-taught winemaker Chris Christensen produced America’s first sparkling Sauvignon Blanc in 2012, a crisp, acidic wine that contrasts well against the richness of fried chicken. Bodkin Wines “Cuvée Agincourt” ($29), sold at Adams Wine Shop, proves he’s only improved in the years since, adding an effervescent edge to each crunchy bite of fried chicken, with notes of citrus and passion fruit. — Danielle Dorsey
Alta, 5359 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 571-4999, altaadams.com; Adams Wine Shop, 5357 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles, (323) 420-6750, adamswineshop.com
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