Napa Cabbage Cole Slaw

by Celia Sin-Tien Cheng
June 16, 2006

DIRTY BIRD TO-GO
204 W 14th St
(7th & 8th Aves)
New York, NY 10011
212-620-4836

It’s amazing how a chef’s name can carry so much weight. I have fond memories of chef Allison Vines-Rushing’s cooking from her days at Jack’s Luxury Oyster Bar. And hence I had high hopes for Dirty Bird To-Go, her new fried chicken take-out restaurant. I’m sure you know where this is going (and yes, this has not been a great month for me, gastronomically speaking)…. Dirty Bird failed to deliver on its expectations. The storefront is cute, but cosmetics alone will not suffice. Allison is a talented chef, but this venture seems to rely more heavily on her name than on her talents. She and her husband, Slade Rushing, are part owners of the store. The restaurant has a simple concept — high quality, carefully prepared fast food — that if executed correctly should take off, bring high profits and be relatively low maintenance. But the equation is not working out right now for Dirty Bird.

On 14th Street, there’s already a KFC and a Popeyes, so if you want to succeed, your chicken and sides need to not only boast of using organic seasonal ingredients, but they should also taste better than the other alternatives. I found the fried chicken to be rather tasteless. I don’t doubt that the quality of the chicken is better than the fast food joints, but the outside was not crispy enough and the chicken, while juicy, lacked flavor. I’ve heard complaints about the batter of the chicken being too thick, which was completely contrary to my experience — the layer of batter was too thin on my chicken. This begs me to believe that Dirty Bird has some consistency issues; I found that the chicken fingers were GIGANTIC. Ali’s chopped salad, which sounded wonderful, was a waste of $8.99, as it didn’t wow or even appease my taste buds. The cornbread was literally and figuratively flat, but I did really enjoy my napa cabbage cole slaw. The problem is, I’m not going to go back just for the slaw. There’s gotta be more draw than that.

Not to mention that the management, or lack thereof, at the store is alarming. The staff members didn’t seem like they wanted to be there, looking bored out of their minds, and that vibe made it kind of hard for me to get really excited about the food. It’s a small operation, and the menu couldn’t be simpler. I feel like with the proper training, this shop could run super efficiently. There are only so many options: fried chicken, rotisserie chicken or chicken fingers, some sides, salad, sweets and drinks. I think the other two chicken fast food competitors may have more extensive menus, so it’s hard to understand why the staff didn’t seem to have its act together.

Honestly, I am rooting for Dirty Bird. There’s a lot of work to be done, but I think that most of it can be figured out. Most importantly, Dirty Bird needs to show on all fronts that it really cares about what it’s producing. Right now, the act is not convincing.

Also in American, Chicken, Vegetables, West Village