The King of Champagne Joins Forces with… Fried Chicken?

We’re in the golden age of collaboration dinners, which is a polite way to say that there are a lot of collabs out there. And for everyone that’s inspired—I’m thinking of Botanist, the newly anointed 19th Best Bar in North America, series of dinners with other award winning bars—there are ones that have no logical reason other than helping the restaurant’s bottom line (which I admit is very logical if you happened to own said restaurant).

But even in this saturated collab market, the June 7th Birds & Bubbles event at Juke stands out for audacious awesomeness: Fried Chicken and Krug. And while at first blush it may seem gimmicky, it’s anything but. Juke is the OG of fried chicken, Krug the OG of Champagne (Dom technically is the OG of OGs, but they’re brethren so let’s not split hairs).

Further, fried chicken and Champagne is a truly excellent pairing—no kidding. Nothing cuts through the richness of fried chicken better than bubbles and Krug, who’s take is always at the bolder end of the body spectrum can handle all that batter like a pro. This would be a blast if it was just a case of Juke splurging on some pricey bottles, but Krug—who guards its image as much as any brand in the world—is all in on the fun with Krug global ambassador Louis Henrion in the house. (I suspect the incomparable Sabrine Dhaliwal, who’s a Global Ambassador for LVMH —as well as our 2017 BOTY—might have had something to do with Krug being so keen to do this).

On the table to share:
Preserved Lemon Hot sauce
Lemon Pickles

Snacks:
Stuffed Chicken Wings (Lemon Pepper and Green Garlic Ranch)
Pimento Cheese Dip and Tater Tots
Egg Mayonnaise (Trout roe, Chicken Skin, Lemon Mayo)
St Louis Pork Ribs (Frenched, Lemon Tahini BBQ, Sesame Dukkah)

Meat and Veg:
Juke Fried chicken with Caviar & Sauce Gribiche

Sides:
Wedge Salad (Lemon Dressing, Blue Cheese, Juke Salad Goodies)
Cornbread, with Fancy Cornmeal, Soft herb and Lemon Smaltz
Hasselback Potatoes, Lemon-Fermented Chili Compound Butter, Green Garlic and Bacon
Corn on the Cob with Lemon Miso & Brown Butter

Dessert:
Neapolitan Ice Cream Sandwich
Gluten Free Lemon Cookie
Strawberry Black Pepper, Brown Butter Honey, Guanaja

At $175, it ain’t cheap, but when you consider that bottle of Krug Grande Cuvée checks in at $370.29, then you can see the serious value here. And how do you put a price on casually mentioning to someone that you’re going to a $175 Fried Chicken dinner.

PS – baller tip: download the Krug app and you can scan every bottle. You’ll get its entire provenance and major bubbles cred by having so many bottles under your belt.

Tickets go on pre-sale Wednesday (you’re welcome) and to the general public on Thursday. Link is here. It will sell out.