27 January 2026
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Every football fan has their favorite, the wing from their neighborhood spot that’s saucy, messy and best enjoyed by the dozen. For those with a taste for the finer things in life, there’s the MICHELIN way.
In San Francisco, wings are stuffed, poached and coated in sriracha. In Atlanta, they take a turn in the smoker. In Nashville, they get a nuclear dosing of ghost pepper.
Read on for how chefs in MICHELIN Guide kitchens are serving up chicken wings.
7 Adams (One MICHELIN Star)
San Francisco, CaliforniaPartway through the two-and-a-half-hour chef’s counter tasting at San Francisco’s 7 Adams, a chicken wing with the distinct fiery glow of a Buffalo lacquer emerges on a kitschy white plate. Cooked with both elaborate French technique and the most blue collar of recipes, this is the cheffiest manifestation of the Super Bowl snack.
Chef David Fisher starts by deboning the wing and stuffing it with a chicken farce, a blend of leg and thigh meat with paprika, garlic and an egg yolk binder. Next, the wing is poached and dredged in a starch mixture before going into the deep fryer. Its sauce is made from the classic Buffalo combo: cold butter and Frank’s RedHot sauce.
The dish is a nod to Fisher’s childhood in Jamestown, New York, not far from the sauce’s namesake city and the chef’s favorite team, the Buffalo Bills. His wife, Serena Chow Fisher, the restaurant’s executive pastry chef, sourced the plates the wing comes out on, which feature a broad-brush interpretation of a chicken. “Naturally I love them because they’re a little fancy, but also humorous, which is very on brand for 7 Adams,” Fisher says.
Kin Khao (One MICHELIN Star)
San Francisco, CaliforniaThe so-called Pretty Hot Wing is a staple at this San Francisco establishment, with a recipe that – as the name suggests – has some nice heat to it. Chef Pim Techamuanvivit pulls tricks from the Thai playbook to make the dish stand out.
First, the wings are marinated in fish sauce and a paste of garlic, coriander and bird's eye chili. Next, they’re fried in a batter of rice flour and tapioca starch – the secret to a perfect crisp, Techamuanvivit says. The shimmery glaze – a tangy Thai take on a Buffalo sauce – is made with tamarind and sriracha.
Esmé (One MICHELIN Star)
Chicago, IllinoisEsmé, in Chicago, has created what may be the world’s most beautiful chicken wing. The fine dining restaurant regularly teams up with local artists for tastings with museum-quality platings, and on a 2024 menu made in collaboration with Raspy Rivera, known for her looping abstract faces, the Poussin Wing Tip made its debut.
The young chicken’s wing tip is first deboned, before a foie gras mousse is piped inside. Next, it’s steamed, wrapped in a bouquet of thyme and fried “KFC style,” Chef Jenner Tomaska says, “to achieve maximum crispiness.” That means twice battering the wing in crème fraiche and a combination of cornstarch and flour. The final result, served with quince ketchup and golden osetra caviar, is plated on top of a section of ornate wooden picture frame like the masterpiece it is.
Heirloom Market BBQ (Bib Gourmand)
Atlanta, GeorgiaCody Taylor, a self-described “hillbilly chef,” and Chef Jiyeon Lee, a Korean transplant in the South, put their minds and their cultures together for the sweet and smoky wings at their Atlanta Bib Gourmand.
The wings start with an overnight marinade of gochujang and sake and are smoked low and slow over oak and hickory before getting fried to order. Their sauce is made from a combo of sweet chili, Korean chili flakes, soy sauce, ginger and garlic. “It’s a harmony of American barbecue and traditional Korean flavors,” the chefs say.
Prelude
San Francisco, CaliforniaA farce makes its way inside the chicken wing at San Francisco’s Prelude too, this one inspired by a flavor-packed Louisiana dirty rice. First, the wing is separated at the drum section and deboned, making space for the meat stuffing, a bulging blend of caramelized chicken livers, country ham, andouille sausage, holy trinity (the traditional Cajun base of onions, bell peppers and celery), bourbon and worcestershire sauce.
Next, the wings are dredged in a beer batter mixed with Cajun seasoning and fried until crispy. A dry spice of house-made fermented chili powder goes on last, giving the wing a glittering sheen. “The wing is inspired by a popular appetizer in some Southeast Asian restaurants called ‘angel wings,’ but I wanted to change the flavors to lean slightly more Southern,” says Chef Celtin Hendrickson-Jones, who pulls much of his menu from his grandmothers’ Alabama recipes.
Hattie B’s Hot Chicken
Nashville, TennesseeThe fried chicken sandwich is the obvious headliner at Hattie B’s in Nashville, the gold standard for this city’s spicy signature dish. But down the menu, the order of whole wings is a go-to on game day. "Our jumbo whole wings are crispy and juicy with flavor to the bone,” says Executive Chef Brian Morris.
The wings are dry brined overnight, deep fried and spiced to order with the same selection of hot sauces as their chicken sandwich cousin. That’s a sweet and smoky dry rub on the low end of the spectrum and the famous ‘Shut the Cluck Up’ sauce, made with ghost pepper, at the top.
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Hero image: Hattie B’s Hot Chicken jumbo whole wings - ©Hattie B's Hot Chicken/Hattie B’s Hot Chicken
