Meat + Poultry - December 2015 - 76

M E AT- M I N D E D

Winging it at the Anchor Bar
Last year during the Super Bowl, Americans consumed
almost as many chicken wings (1.25 billion) as the population
of China (1.35 billion). And to think the chicken wing craze
began at a modest Italian restaurant in Buffalo, NY.
That restaurant, the Anchor Bar, is now a bucket-list
stop for foodies who want to eat chicken wings at
the place they were "invented." The late Frank and
Teressa Bellissimo founded the Anchor Bar in 1935,
which attracted a solid clientele for its Italian food. But

"Today, we sell about 2,000 pounds
of chicken wings a day."- IVANO TOSCANI
something happened one late-winter Friday night in 1964
that would change the restaurant - and the entire food
industry - forever.
That night, the Bellissimo's son, Dominic, was tending
bar when some buddies showed up to have a few drinks.
They grew hungry and asked Dominic for something
to eat - but something different and not on the menu.
Dominic relayed the message to his mother, Teressa,
who was in the kitchen. Teressa scanned the kitchen and
spotted a box of large chicken wings that a meat supplier
had delivered. She had planned to use the wings in a stock
pot to make soup, but decided to feed the meaty wings to
his friends. She cut them up, put them in a deep fryer and
covered them with a spicy sauce. Then she put them on
two plates garnished with celery sticks and bleu cheese
and took them to Dominic at the bar.
Seeing the chicken wings - and thinking they were a bit
peculiar - Dominic wondered how his friends would react

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MEAT+ POULTRY | 12.15 | www.meatpoultry.com

to them. While they were also curious, his friends were too
hungry to pass on them. And after biting into the wings
they began squawking about how delicious they were.
Dominic's friends returned again and again to eat the
off-menu creation. Soon, others wanted to try them and
there was talk of placing chicken wings on the menu. But
Frank Bellissimo wanted nothing to do with putting such a
low-level meat item on the menu, citing that people came
to the Anchor Bar to eat fine, homemade Italian food. But,
eventually, Bellissimo conceded to the crowing and agreed
to list them, not realizing at the time that chicken wings
would take his business to a level he never anticipated.
Fast-forward to October 2015. Ivano Toscani, the
owner of the Anchor Bar, talks about how the eatery
has become a destination for people all over the globe.
Toscani jokes that Buffalo is known for three things: the
four Super Bowls the Buffalo Bills lost consecutively in
the 1990s, cold winter weather and chicken wings.
"Today, we sell about 2,000 lbs. of chicken wings a
day," Toscani says.
The 65-year-old Toscani, who became proprietor of the
iconic restaurant just a few months ago, has worked there
for 40 years. When he started, he was Frank's assistant
and learned the business inside out. Toscani says there are
three vital components to making an awesome chicken
wing: the right wings, the right oil and the right fryer.
"We use jumbo wings," he adds. "But we don't want
them too big because the meat is tough."
The Anchor Bar uses Frymaster fryers, which have
been around since 1935. The wings are deep fried in
vegetable oil at 350˚ F for 10 to 12 minutes before being
tossed in one of the Anchor Bar's original recipe sauces.
The Anchor Bar charges $13 for 10 wings, $21 for 20 and
$44 for 50. Toscani remembers when the wholesale price of
wings was 40 cents per lb. Today, he pays over $2 per lb.
Toscani says it took about 10 years for chicken wings
to catch on throughout the country after their debut at
the Anchor Bar. But he never thought they would become
such a culinary rage. According to Nielsen Perishables
Group, Americans consumed about 543 million lbs. of
chicken wings for the 52 weeks ending Nov. 29, 2014, an
increase of about 4 percent from the previous year.
Toscani is amazed at what has transpired. He thinks
back to that winter night in 1964 when Teressa created one
of modern culture's most popular finger foods by...well...
winging it - and revolutionizing the poultry industry and
the food industry in the process.
L AW R E N C E AY LWA R D | l a y l w a rd @ s o s l a n d.c o m
http://www.meatpoultry.com
Meat + Poultry - December 2015

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