Hold the phone; Crested Butte’s very own Slogar chickens crossed the road (1,335 miles of roads, to be precise) to compete in the National Fried Chicken Festival in New Orleans last October.
The Slogar Restaurant owners, Ayla and Ian Scott, beat out thousands of applicants, mostly from the deep South, to compete among 40 other fried chicken purveyors in categories ranging from Best Fried Chicken to Best Chicken Sandwich.
The restaurant caught the attention of the festival’s selection committee for its haute take on the family-style, skillet-fried chicken, and its perch far north of the Mason-Dixon line, making the Slogar the festival’s most northern entrant.
One of Crested Butte’s oldest surviving restaurants, the Slogar first opened in 1983. Ayla, a seasoned mixologist, and Ian, a classically trained French chef from the New England Culinary Institute, brought their talents to the Slogar in 2018. The couple, who have been in the valley for twenty-plus years, have largely hemmed to the restaurant’s rich (and caloric) tradition, though slightly modernizing its original prix fixe menu of fried chicken and southern sides by adding new dishes like ribs and elevated vegetarian options.
Ian also brought his meticulous preparation style and knife skills to the table. “Ian takes great care in the way he prepares his chicken. Many restaurants use pre-cut chicken; Ian hand-cuts each chicken swiftly, in under 30 seconds (a whole bird!). With this care, he is able to ensure quality in each and every piece of chicken that is served,” said Maddie Artac, Slogar’s media manager.
Over the festival weekend, Ian, Ayla, and a flock of mostly Buttians served thousands of festivalgoers their signature buttermilk fried chicken, tomato chutney, and collard greens, along with new hits like a fried chicken banh mi.
“We had the pleasure of welcoming repeat customers, building new connections, and receiving an invitation to return next year! Our booth even attracted a New Orleans resident who frequently vacations in Crested Butte — they were delighted to find a slice (leg or breast) of Crested Butte right at home,” said Maddie.
The competition was hot. Working out of a food booth with mobile stoves and fryers, the team roasted amid afternoon temperatures in the high eighties with full humidity. Several festivalgoers passed out from heat exhaustion. Unaccustomed to the extreme heat, the Slogar mountain dwellers found the cooking intense, and acclimated by keeping to the shade, guzzling water, and wrapping wet towels around their necks.
The appeal? The team wanted the experience of participating in a food competition of that size and notoriety. Ranked sixth among all food festivals in the U.S., the Fried Chicken Nationals allowed Team Slogar to introduce their northern style to the South, branch into other areas of food service, and challenge the southern-dominated pecking order of fried chicken cuisine.
“We plan on returning next year. The appeal is the chance to cook in a city we love and share what we do up north while taking full inspiration from our time in the city. The benefit is being able to meet new and wonderful people and just build our inspiration for the future… We love the food culture in New Orleans,” said Ian.
Though Team Slogar didn’t take home any official awards, they did whet the appetite of a whole new Big Easy fanbase.