Jeff Chausse
Digital Strategy + Design
Mmm… Family Style Chicken
And now, for something totally different… I’ve lived in Massachusetts for the past 12 years or so, but I was born and raised in northern Rhode Island. People crack jokes about the size of the state when I add the “northern” prefix, but northern Rhode Island has a culture far different than that of our Newport brethren. And one cultural force to be reckoned with is that of Chicken Family-Style – the unofficial favorite meal of northern Rhode Island.
In January 1990, Yankee magazine ran an article about the meal in which writer Bonnie Tandy Leblang noted that “Nine out of ten weddings in northern Rhode Island feature chicken family-style.” She further contended that this dish made up more than half of all orders in area restaurants, and that at one restaurant offering a full menu, it accounted for ninety percent of all orders.
No one outside of the area seems to understand why in the world you would eat french fries and pasta in the same meal but, growing up, nearly every special event I attended featured this same culinary experience.
If you care to experience it for yourself, look no further than Wright’s Farm – the Mecca of Chicken Family-Style. The place seats 1500 people and you can STILL expect an hour wait.
Why am I posting this? No real reason, excpet that I never expected to find such an in-depth article on this subject and wanted to share it…
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I grew up with the weight watchers version of this meal, almost every night. The chicken wasn’t breaded, there was no starch, the salad had light dressing, and the veggies didn’t have much butter.