What’s on the menu at Chen Chen’s Hot Chicken, a spicy new spot for fried bird and sweet tea at Stackt Market

By Caroline Aksich | Photography By Caroline Aksich | August 22, 2019

By Caroline Aksich | Photography By Caroline Aksich | 08/22/2019

Name: Chen Chen’s Hot Chicken
Contact: Stackt Market, 28 Bathurst St., 647-782-3565, @chenchenshotchicken
Owners: Trevor Lui (formerly of Kanpai), Chen Chen and Andre Burgos
Chef: Chen Chen (Kanpai, Byblos) and Andre Burgos (Kanpai, Pinkertons, Juanita’s)
Accessibility: Fully accessible

The food

Born in Wuhu, China, and raised in Nashville, Chen Chen came to Toronto in 2016 to make money on the professional poker circuit. He liked the city so much, he decided to set down roots here. While enrolled in chef’s school, Chen Chen worked at Kanpai where he met fellow chef Andre Burgos, with whom he decided to collaborate on a Nashville hot chicken pop-up. When their boss, Trevor Lui, tried their spicy fried goods, he was so impressed the trio began hatching business plans. Fast forward, and Chen Chen’s Hot Chicken is the first concept to take up residency at Stackt Market’s storage-container food pavilion.

The chicken—all thighs—starts with an overnight brine in buttermilk before it’s dredged in a mix of cayenne, flour and cornstarch. It’s then thrown into a mix of buttermilk and egg white before it’s dredged for a second time. It’s fried for six minutes, then anointed with the spice-packed hot oil. Guests can order their chicken mild, medium, or hot, but the Chen Chen’s team is working on an extra-hot option for masochists in search of a truly searing burn.

The O.G. Hot Chicken is served on a slice of white bread with bead-and-butter pickle slices. $10.

The O.G. Hot Chicken sandwich uses the same fried bird, but it’s served on a buttered Cheese Boutique brioche bun with vinegar slaw. $12.

For vegetarians, there’s a deep-fried cauliflower option that tastes like a cross between kung pao and Nashville hot chicken. It’s spicy and just a bit sweet. It’s both vegan and gluten free. $8.

The mac and cheese is made with a béchamel-cheddar sauce. Add a bit of bacon on top for no extra charge. $8.

Other sides include a creamy potato salad ($7) and a sweet vinegar-based slaw ($7).

The Dirty South is a southern take on poutine: a layer fries topped with two slices of processed cheese, topped with more fries, and finished with a generous squirt of Thousand Island dressing. $12.

Trevor Lui putting the finishing touches on a sandwich.

The drinks:

Chen Chen’s sells sweet tea and Jarritos. For a boozy pairing, customers can pop over to the neighbouring Pavilion Bar storage container about five metres away.

Southern sweet tea made with oolong and pineapple juice from Chen Chen’s, $4; a draught negroni from the Pavilion Bar, $11; and an Aperol Spritz, also from the Pavilion Bar, $10.

The entire southern stretch of Stackt is now licensed, so you can sip and eat at any of the tables in the Food Pavilion, or take enjoy your meal over in this verdant area.

The space

Stacklab designed the Food Pavilion, which will become a four-season dining space. The pavilion will morph a bit for winter, but right now, it’s an open air venue with communal tables, heaps of potted plants and an industrial chic vibe thanks to the cantilevered plastic roof suspended over scaffolding.