Ain't No Thing but a Chicken Wing

Wednesday's Autumn AirFest, put on by the Charlotte Chamber, was a great event, with great weather, food, and networking. The highlight of the midday event was the chicken wing competition, in which five local restaurants competed: DD Peckers' Wing Shack, Fuel Pizza, Mac's Speed Shop, Nana's Soul Food, and Wild Wing Cafe. Attendees were able to sample wings from each of them; then they were allowed to cast their vote for the best using an electronic voting kiosk.

The winner, receiving the most votes, was DD Peckers', and the runner-up was Nana's Soul Food.

I differed a little from the majority. My choice for winner was Wild Wing Cafe. They served three different wings, but it was the "Crazy Daisy" wing that made them tops in my book. It's an Asian-style barbecue wing with rich, flavorful sauce and great texture--fried just right.

But like the audience, I too choose Nana's Soul Food as my runner-up. Chef Charles Rucker was on hand serving up his Zesty Garlic wings. They were hot (spicy), but not too hot, tender--meat nearly falling off the bone--and very flavorful. It possibly could've been my winner had the skin been fried harder.

Here are some of my camera phone pics from the event.

Chef Rucker of Nana's Soul Food serving guests.

This nifty tray from Big Frog of South Charlotte allowed me to hold my drink and food with one hand.

You would think someone burnt this, but it's the Ming wing from DD Peckers' and it's quite good.