Quintessentially Rochester: The secrets of hometown creation Chicken French

There's a kind of alchemy that happens in Rochester's second-most-famous dish, right in the pan, when a familiar protein lets in a happy burst of flavor. A similar pop of joy occurs when a typical Rochesterian thinks about Chicken French, sees it on a menu or finds it on their plate.

But is the popularity of the quintessential hometown dish waning in the age of Instagram and 1,000 dinner flavor options? It's not a showy recipe. It doesn't feature specialty ingredients. And it sprang from a much older generation.

Not all Italian restaurants in the region carry it. Most still do, plus artichoke French and all the variations. Some places serve it in a fine dining setting and the entree will set you back $27. Others are more casual, even with to-go options, and charge $17.

When your out-of-state friends ask what Chicken French is, the answer can sound mundane out loud. Chicken, dipped in egg and flour, cooked in butter or oil with sherry or white wine, lemon, salt and pepper, parm.

They need to try it to understand.

'A fantastic dish, easily made'

It's not just western New York that has been affected by Rochester's famous dish.

People nationally love it — and connect it to Rochester. A cooking newsletter by the New York Times had this to say in 2018 after the dish turned out to be No. 1 on the NYT list of most popular new recipes:

"A number-one position for the children of East Avenue, Upper Falls and Swillburg! A Kodak moment for Fairport and Greece, Brighton, Pittsford, Irondequoit! Chicken francese is a fantastic dish, easily made, with deep and abiding flavor that goes nicely alongside plain spaghetti tossed with olive oil and butter, a side of garlicky greens, some bread. Try it. Chicken French for all."

Massimo Albano, an owner of Lemoncello in East Rochester, said he has noticed a surprising development when he travels in Italy. Albano is a first generation Italian immigrant.

Because of New Yorkers and other Americans who love Chicken French and ask for it at restaurants in Italy, chefs all over his home country have started to feature the dish on their menus. They never used to serve it.

It's not Italian. It's Italian-American.

A history of Chicken French

There are many stories about where the dish came from. A Democrat and Chronicle food reporter, Karen Miltner, wrote in 2005:

"The Garbage Plate may get top billing as Rochester's culinary icon. But if sheer ubiquity is the criterion for ranking hometown grub, then surely the winner would be chicken French.

"The thin, lightly battered and sautéed chicken cutlet, served in a sauce of white wine, butter and lemon, is a staple at many Italian-American restaurants."

Retired senior editor Jim Memmott sums up the rest of the history:"Chicken French's creation story, as recounted by Miltner and by Nate Cianciola of Webster, who owned the Brown Derby restaurant in Brighton with his brother James, is a classic tale of Rochester adopting, adapting and improving a food item from another region.

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First there was vitello francese (veal French) in New York City after World War II. Cianciola credits two chefs, Tony Mammano and Joe Cairo, with bringing the dish to Rochester.

James Cianciola, who was known in cooking circles as Chef Vincenzo, then began preparing veal French at the Brown Derby. His version of the dish was so good, it won an international award.

However, things changed in the 1970s after anti-veal picketers showed up at the Brown Derby door urging a boycott of the restaurant. In response, the Cianciolas put chicken French, an item they had already been cooking for themselves, on the menu.

It caught on and they soon added artichoke French and cauliflower French and haddock French and other foods French."

Chicken French: How to make it sing

Ronnie Olsheski is the executive chef at Pane Vino on the River in Rochester. The dish is an important part of their menu. He talked about Chicken French on a recent spring day as he prepped for dinner service, handling a huge tray of beautiful potato gnocchi.

People want the classic dish when they go out for a nice Italian meal, he said. Pane Vino has a handsome inside dining room and a separate bar, plus a red-brick patio right on the river.

These are the key tips to help you at home with Chicken French, according to Olsheski:

• You wanna pound your chicken out nice and thin so it absorbs the flavor.

• Put some plastic wrap down, and tap the chicken breast out nice and level. "It cooks evenly, and when it's nice and thin, it absorbs the flavor of that wine and that lemon." You want pound it before, of course, you dip it in your flour, your beaten eggs.

• French it up in the oil or the butter, or whatever you choose. Then once you french it on both sides, get rid of the oil and come in with your wine, let that flame up a little bit, and just let it simmer.

• Squeeze lemons into it once you reduce some of that alcohol out of your wine. Add chicken stock and let the chicken cook and get tender.

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"A lot of people will try to rush it, bing, bing, boom, boom," he said.

Don't do that.

"Let it take time, let it simmer," Olsheski said. "The more it simmers in that sauce, the more tender that it gets, and the more flavor that it absorbs."

At Pane Vino, they eventually throw in a handful of fresh, finely grated Parmesan cheese and a couple of chunks of high-quality cold butter. Work that in and it smooths out the sauce and gives it body. They strain the sauce at the end.

"Add a little bit of wilted spinach, and a little bit of pasta, and fantastic!" he said.

— William Ramsey is an editor at the Democrat and Chronicle. He wants sherry in his Chicken French. And artichokes.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Unlocking the secrets of Rochester hometown dish Chicken French