Brendon Edwards Puts Fresh Spin on Gold Cash Gold’s Famous Fried Chicken

When a new chef moved into the kitchens at Gold Cash Gold this fall, the restaurant was quick to allay concerns that its headlining dish, the pickle brined fried chicken, might be going away. An early hit at the Corktown eatery, the pickle brined fried chicken with its subtly tart meat and crunchy exterior quickly became a mainstay on the restaurant’s brunch and dinner menus.

Fast forward to December and chef Brendon Edwards (formerly of Standby) is finally settling into his new role and putting a fresh spin on the dish that helped define the Southen-style, farm-to-table restaurant. Edward’s hasn’t entirely done away with the chicken but rather adjusted its recipe for smoother, more consistent service. In the past, Edwards explained to Eater during a recent preview, the chicken would occasionally arrive raw to the table (a common issue faced by all major restaurants); Edwards improves on the method by poaching the poultry sous vide in butter, before it ever hits the oil.

The meat comes out tender and flavorful as ever with that same crisp coating, although less oily than the original recipe. Rather than white gravy, it now comes with braised green beans at dinner and can be had two ways at brunch: in a biscuit sandwich or over buckwheat waffles.

Edward’s approach can be seen all over the new menu with dishes like Creole-inspired dirty rice shaped into a rounded “cake” (a nod to the chef’s fondness for Asian flavors and techniques) and the Golden Potatoes (a mixture of yellow gold potatoes, sweet potatoes, and plantains cooked crisply and topped with queso fresco, Peruvian chili, and cilantro). A pan fried skate is the chef’s take on Southern-style catfish, though the fish in this dish avoids the earthy flavors of catfish. The creamy buttermilk fried scallops are particularly tasty. Edwards says he plans to rotate dishes on a regular basis to keep things fresh. Scope out the new menu below:

Clarification, 12/23/16, 2:22 p.m.: The wording of this article has been updated with a note regarding the reference to raw chicken. Undercooked chicken is a common issue faced both by restaurants and home cooks. By preparing dishes sous vide, chefs have slightly more control temperatures and doneness resulting in more consistency.

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