It's official. The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of FFC, Flav's Fried Chicken, took place Monday. Hip-hop and reality star Flavor Flav is a partner in his first-time venture as a restauranteur.
The menu includes the Public Enemy hypeman's specially seasoned fried chicken recipe, ribs, greens, and macaroni and cheese.
Before teaming with Nick Cimino to establish FFC, Flav already had a relationship with Cimino's brother, Peter, who owns Mama Cimino's in Las Vegas. The pizza restaurant sells Flavor Flav's 99-cent wings.
It was Nick's idea to create an eatery based on Flav's recipe. "Nick sees me frying the chicken and says, 'I'm going back to my town and I'm going to build us a restaurant, the first FFC restaurant,'" Flav told the Clinton Herald. "I said, 'Huh, are you serious?'" FFC is located next to the Mama Cimino in Clinton, Iowa.
According to an online review, the Flavor Flav chicken wings had an "extremely oily smell" but were "surprisingly tasty."
Flav revealed what separates his chicken from competitors Kentucky Fried Chicken, Popeye's, Church's, and others. "When you take the breading off the chicken all's you gonna taste is some boiled chicken," he said. "But the secret with FFC is I season my meat first. Then I let the meat season the flour...If you take the breading off my chicken, you'll still taste all of my seasonings."
Flav, born William Drayton Jr., is not new to the restaurant business. He told the Clinton Herald that he grew up watching his mother and sisters cook at their family restaurant, the Soul Diner. "I kinda learned how to cook on my own by watching them," he said.
Flav said he earned a culinary degree in cheffing in 1978, and had also worked as a head cook at the Nassau County Court House as well as at Uniondale High School, both in Long Island.
He added that opening a chicken restaurant has been a longtime dream. He has always wanted to compete with Kentucky Fried Chicken. "I always said, 'Colonel Sanders, you better watch out, boy. Your boy Flavor Flav is coming and you got something on your hands.'" Ironically, FFC is located near a KFC.
To be honest, I was more shocked that Flav convincingly pulled off three successful seasons of dating show "Flavor Of Love" than I am about the establishment of this business. As a buffalo wing connoisseur myself, I'm looking forward to doing a taste test during my next stop in Vegas or first trip to Clinton.
Posted By: DAVID JOHNSON
Tuesday, January 25th 2011 at 12:04AM
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