HOLLY's HOT CHICKEN pop-up @ BAR LUPULUS - Ottawa ON

I'm an equal opportunity wingist - I don't discriminate against commercial wings or small business wings. But, I'd prefer to give the local folks the business when I can. So when I heard that a local named Holly Laham was holding pop events as Holly's Hot Chicken (HHC) serving Nashville Hot Chicken sandwiches, my interest was peaked. I wanted to try, but the pop ups were at time's I couldn't go. Then I heard she was doing Nashville Hot Wings, and I knew I had to go. Then this summer I heard that Holly had partnered up with Bar Lupulus on Friday and Saturday nights from 10:30pm-1am. This was my chance to go.

I'd never heard of Bar Lupulus before seeing it on Holly's Instagram with her partnership with them. This is funny because I live very close by and have driven by almost daily without ever noticing the place. LJ and I went on a Friday after going to the cinema (saw A Simple Favor, highly recommend) on a beautiful September evening when they had their big front window open and the crowded bar was presented to the street.

I walked in right at 10:30 (Holly's opening hours) and was greeted by a friendly Bar Lupulus waitress, but she said Holly's weren't up and ready yet, not for another 15-20 minutes. She said I could have a seat, but I went back to the car to sit with LJ. After waiting for 15 minutes, I went back, and the waitress told me they were ready and head to the back bar.

I really liked Bar Lupulus. It's dark, it's a bit chic, and it has an eclectic crowd. The waiters seemed to be all in overalls and the waitresses in jean aprons. A bit hipster in presentation and clientel. They are big on craft and local beers here. They also have a restaurant service, but it must end by 10pm and that's why HHC comes in at 10:30pm.

HHC takes up the back kitchen counter; the whole restaurant is dark but the kitchen with it's low level but bright lighting shows off the prepping space. There is a portable marquee that is like a beacon in the dark to let you know where to order. You can see the crew rushing around prepping and cooking - I like that. I saw Holly herself working like crazy, and I was a bit disappointing I didn't get a chance to chat with her about her business and craft.

The way it works, whether you are drinking at Bar Lupulus (apparently the wait staff don't take orders) or you are getting take-out like me is you go to the back of the bar, check out the paper menu on the counter, and the dude with the tablet takes your order. You pay (cash, credit or debit) and they give you a number for your table. I got two orders of the Nashville Style Chicken-Wings (I was order #4 of the night) and didn't have a table but crashed at a long empty one at the back. I chilled watching as patrons from both the restaurant and take-out come and order as well. Then I got politely booted out as the reserved table's party had arrived. I stood awkwardly trying not to get in the way of servers and patrons. When there was a moment of no one at the bar, I went up to snag some photos when I saw something interesting:

Since I ordered, and maybe 4 or 5 people after me, they had scratched out wings off all the paper menus! I got scared that I wasn't going to get wings, but I'm sure they would have said something. But what happened? Did they run out of wings already? They were only open 10 minutes! After waiting about 15 minutes, I had our wings and didn't stick around to find out about the wing situation; I was out the door and headed home.

We got home and I opened the brown paper bag our order was in. At the top were containers of pickles, ranch dipping sauce, napkins, and wetnaps. After pulling that out I found at the bottom two cardboard 'poutine' boxes as I call them with our wing orders. It smelled spicy and good ...

I have to admit in all the excitement I didn't get a good count of the actual amount of wings in the order, but based on the photo evidence and the box size, it was about 7 or 8 wings. The box was an explosion of spice and grease. It was all very exciting.

The size of the wings is not very long, maybe stretching to a medium. They were, however, pretty meaty chunks of chicken. Even if you took the breading off of them, they were a plump flapper. They did not look disappointing at all.

The breading was packed on, and it and the skin were very crisp, almost cracker crunchy. It was not a light breading, but it wasn't too heavy. You can`t bite into this politely without making a mess or knocking off sheets of the breading.

The wings are sauce-less, but that doesn't mean these are dry. They are freaking greasy, and some folks might find that wrong, but I find it soo right. I mean that's why they give all the napkins and wetnaps right?

This chicken is marinated in lots of spices; they are Nashville Hot Style after all. If you are unfamiliar, Nashville Hot, as defined by Wikipedia, is chicken:

marinated in a water-based blend of seasoning, floured, fried, and finally sauced using a paste that has been spiced with cayenne pepper. It is served atop slices of white bread with pickle chips. It is both the application of a spicy paste and the presentation that differentiates it from similar dishes

I have had very little experience with Nashville Hot Chicken, but Holly seems to have nailed it here. From my research, fully authentic. Crispy breaded seasoning with cayenne pepper spicy paste. The flavour is peppery, mainly cayenne. The heat is good; it attacks the throat more than the mouth. People not used to spice will die, but heat eaters are going to be happy with the warming sensation.

To make it Nashville Hot, you gotta have the pickle chip. This pickle chip seems to be a Bread & Butter type pickle, and I think it's a quick pickle rather than one that's been pickling for a long time. It's sweet and sour and you need that sweet/tart contrast to the peppery chicken. LJ really liked them and while they give you a lot in each order, she wanted more.

You also get a choice of house made Honey Garlic or Ranch sauce. Well we are going for ranch ovy. The ranch is a bit watery, but it has a nice ranch flavour. You know, whatever ranch is. I really appreciate that it`s made in house. Or in pop-up ...

LJ and I both agreed that the wings were pretty much a one note flavour of cayenne pepper, so they need the pickle and the ranch to give a nuanced experience. But these wings are delivering an experience. It's hitting your nose, the mouth, the fingers, there's crispy skin and bursting pickle. You have to devote your moment to this wing, you can`t just suck them back like your average bar wing.

Oh don't forget the Wonder Bread. At the bottom of the box is traditional Wonder Bread and it's soaking up the grease, the spice, the seasoning. It looks like a visual representation of a heart after a heart attack. LJ questioned whether we should eat it or not, because when you go to say a breakfast buffet they often put bacon on bread to soak up the grease, and you don't eat it. I said f*#^ it and we ate it, dipping it in ranch. Wow, my heart stopped, but it was good.*

FINAL SCORE:
Holly knows her way around a deep fryer, that's for sure. The wings were fried crispy, the breading was great and held up all the spice and for take-out. The wings have a great crunchy texture, and scooped up the ranch when dipped, and the pickle when eating altogether. The warming cayenne heat is good, but it renders the solo wing a one note flavour. So you gotta eat it with the ranch and pickle. These were good wings, but I'm willing to bet that the sandwich is even better. 8.5/14

Holly's Hot Chicken
facebook.com/hollyshotchicken

Bar Lupulus
1242 Wellington Street West, Ottawa ON
barlupulus.ca