Monday Munchies- Pepperfire
Nashville has been known for many things over the years. For the longest time, it has been The Music City. For the past five years, it’s been known for the woo-girls that occupy the downtown streets from 9 am to 4 am. Twenty years ago, it was home to one of the most iconic football plays of all time with the Music City Miracle. A more recent phenomena, and one that restaurants all over the country seem to want to knock off, is Nashville Hot Chicken. The fabled story of the embittered Mrs. Prince, angry at her husband for staying out too late with his friends and making extremely hot chicken when he came home begging for food, is pretty well spread throughout town. Since then, there have been hundreds of different types of cayenne-coated chicken to wet the taste buds, and foreheads, of Nashvillians and tourists alike. Along with all these varieties are the even more numerous opinions of hot chicken connoisseurs who want to believe that their favorite spot is the best. My personal favorite is Hattie B’s, and thanks to their national marketing that destroys the competition, it’s a lot of other people’s favorite as well and it’s impossible for me to actually get to eat there due to hour long lines at all three of their locations. And with that being the case they don’t really need the pub of a small real estate agent’s review. So- we’re going to another of my personal favorites, Pepperfire.
One thing that I think a lot of big chains are getting wrong while trying to imitate what Nashville has done with hot chicken is the spice combination. Take KFC’s terrible attempt from a couple of years ago. You can’t make hot chicken with a wet sauce. All that is is a different variation of buffalo chicken which has been around forever. Get out of here with that. Hattie B’s, Bolton’s, Prince’s, Pepperfire all know that the spice is in the breading of the chicken, not some sauce slathered on top of breaded chicken. Now, I’m a tenders guy when it comes to hot chicken. That’s mainly because I know that I can get all the chicken I want with a knife and fork and not have to touch the chicken with my hands, a possibly dangerous situation should the need arise to scratch your nose or eyelid. The standard hot chicken meal goes like this: tenders (or bone-in, you can go from wings all the way up to a straight up hot chicken) on top of a piece of white bread, pickles, and a couple of sides. I go no pickles, because pickles are overrated and disgusting. That’s just a fact. Can’t stress enough that pickles ruin anything they touch. Anyway, for the sides, crinkle-cut fries are a must, and you can also get the dry spice on top of the fries (pro-tip). I usually pair that with the baked beans, which in my opinion, are the only baked beans that rival my mom’s.
Enough wet spice to be able to get the bread soggy, not too much to make it unbearable.
They also do some pretty wild things that set their place apart. Hillary usually gets the AppleJack when we eat there. How do you like them apples? Well, if you do like those apples, this meal is a fried grilled cheese sandwich, topped with your choice of hot chicken, then topped with cinnamon caramelized apples. I mean…that’s pretty over the top. It’s probably the best grilled cheese I’ve ever had, if I might add. Not a big apple guy, but it’s aesthetically pleasing to look at and I’m sure the taste is great as well. Not for the faint of heart, people that are not hungry, or are attempting any semblance of a diet.
The AppleJack. It’s basically a savory dessert alongside the best grilled cheese I’ve ever put in my mouth.
It seems like there is a new hot chicken joint that opens around town every month. Other than a solid burger place, it’s probably the easiest type of food to find in your local neighborhood. In East alone we have Bolton’s, Hattie B’s and Tenn Sixteen (which I’ll do a review for later because I think they have a super underrated hot chicken dish). RIP to the original of all hot chicken restaurants, Prince’s East that caught fire last year and they’re not re-opening, which is lunacy to me. With that hole in our hot chicken world on this side of town, if my friend that has quite a bit of sway with a particular hot chicken spot- cough, cough Hattie B’s- we NEED you on the East side. If for anything else to give me an avenue to shorter lines waiting for that pimento mac and cheese. Make it happen!
SCORE: 7.5/10