"The Great Chicken Wing Hunt" lands in Sarasota

Start with fresh, fried chicken wings, toss them in cayenne pepper, butter and other preferred spices, serve with side dishes of road trip camaraderie, endurance, self-discovery, a homecoming while embarking on a quest to find the best Buffalo chicken wings in the world---and the result is The Great Chicken Wing Hunt, a documentary film directed by Matt Reynolds.

Debuting to stellar reviews at the Atlanta Film Fest in March, this saucy slice of documentary filmmaking wings it way to Sarasota for two Sarasota Film Festival screenings on Monday, April 8 at 1:15 p.m. and Tuesday, April 9 at 9:15 pm. The screenings take place at the Hollywood 20 theater on Main Street.

While living in Slovakia, working as journalist for the Reuters news agency and covering an international beat that included the Czech Republic and Poland, Reynolds (a Rochester, N.Y. native) cooked and served Buffalo wings to his foreign friends, turning them on to a “quintessential American food” derived from a delivery error and first served at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, N.Y. in 1964.

Speaking by phone from New York City before departing for Sarasota later in the week, Reynolds said, “As I’m cooking wings for my friends, we’re starting to see wings pop up on local menus and I had this realization that wings were now becoming a truly global food.”

Around 2007, the idea first began percolating for a “wing tour” of the United States, similar to the wine tours of France, where Reynolds would bring his Slovak friends to the “wing belt” of North America.

“Wouldn’t it be interesting to go back to the place where it all started---the Northeastern United States---and do a tour and get into the history of wings while meeting the local unsung heroes of the wing world who work in upstate New York, where every little bar and restaurant has their own secret recipe?” Reynolds explained.

An online call for wing hunters produced an enthusiastic group of American and European wing enthusiasts and filmmakers that included a competitive eater, a chef, a musician and other “crazy characters” who eventually joined Reynolds on a three week tour of the greater New York area. Traveling at various times by bus, small SUV, or car, the wing hunters visited numerous wing joints, rating and critically analyzing what they found along the way.

“This film has many different layers. It starts with the history of the wing and this quest for the best wing in the world, set in the context of my story of living abroad and cooking wings for my friends,” Reynolds said.

“During the course of the trip, you have the Czechs discovering wings and being thrown into this weird world of wing fanatics. You have me returning home, returning to my roots and where I’m from. You have the wing hunters who came along on the trip, and finally you have the cooks who are in the running for the world’s best wing maker," said Reynolds, who quit his job at Reuters to embark on the journey.

The Great Chicken Wing Hunt chronicles the quest through a series of interviews with wing tasters, bloggers, food critics and wing makers.

At one point in the film, Reynolds says, “Everywhere you go there are wing fanatics, which is interesting because I don’t think you get that for every food. There’s something about the wing that creates a certain enthusiasm and energy around it.”

Expounding on the virtues of wings during these health-conscious, politically correct times, New York City wing enthusiast Craig Wood said, “There’s no expectation of manners. It’s just this pile of meat and bones and all I want to do is pick it up with my hands and tear away at it.”

When asked what makes a good wing during our recent interview, Reynolds said, “Like many foods, there are unlimited possibilities. The thing about wings is that the basic recipe is so simple there’s no real reason there should ever be bad wings. If you fry fresh (not frozen) wings in oil that has been changed on a regular basis, at the correct temperature, and you mix it with cayenne pepper sauce and butter … that tastes good.”

Taking it a step farther, Reynolds said, “What makes a great wing is somebody who takes the time to figure out what more can be done to improve on that by adding more dimensions. I make a sauce where I use five or six kinds of peppers, garlic, a little bit of honey, a little bit of mustard and a little bit of celery salt. You wouldn’t even know that most of those flavors were in there, but they give it a little more depth and dimension.”

As for how wings from Buffalo compare to wings in other cities, he said, “Almost everywhere you go in Buffalo the wings are good. I think that there is more experimenting going on outside Buffalo, where they’re real traditional. It’s kind of like pizza being invented in Napoli. If you go back to Napoli, you get bread and sauce and maybe some cheese. There’s a lot more happening elsewhere.”

During the film, the question arises as to what makes a wing a Buffalo wing and when does it become a different kind of wing?

This led to the creation of a second category honoring the Best Novelty Wing, providing inclusion of recipes that utilize teriyaki, honey mustard, tequila, whiskey and other non-traditional wing ingredients.

As to whether or not he and his friends ever found the “perfect wing,” Reynolds---not wanting to give away the movie’s ending---simply said, “We reached a satisfactory conclusion.”When asked what he hopes viewers take away from The Great Chicken Wing Hunt, Reynolds said, “Inevitably we’re talking about wings, but a lot of people who see the movie say it wasn’t just about wings, or it wasn’t even primarily about wings. It’s about adventure and camaraderie and going on a road trip. It’s about different countries and cultures. It’s about me returning home, discovering where I came from and figuring out that one of the reasons I love wings and cooked wings for people is because I missed home and hadn’t lived there in a long time."

Continuing his self-analysis of the film, Reynolds said, “It’s also about this question of finding perfect things in the world. Is it possible to make the perfect plate of food? It’s a question that’s kind of absurd, but we also treat it seriously.”

Summing up his thoughts, he said, “It’s a funny movie, but the humor is deadpan with ironic undertones. The characters in the film take their mission seriously and the film's not making fun of that.”

Having had the privilege of watching an advanced online screening of The Great Chicken Wing Hunt, I would add that the film is also a love story, celebrating the love of food, the love of friends and the love that exists between a man and woman from two different cultures---even when the woman is not so sure about her mate’s career choices, priorities and future plans.

As I watched the film at home, I developed a serious craving for chicken wings. So, be warned: When attending the Sarasota Film Fest screenings of The Great Chicken Wing Hunt, you will likely experience similar yearnings. But you’re in luck, because the Monday, April 8 screening will be followed by an afterparty at Clásico Cafe and Bar (1341 Main Street) from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. Reynolds will be in attendance and folks will get the chance to taste “The World’s Best Wing” as declared by The Great Chicken Wing Hunt wing hunters. The afterparty is free, open to the public and sponsored by Tito’s Handmade Vodka.

For more information, you can find The Great Chicken Wing Hunt on Facebook or visit the official film website.Having just begun its film festival run, the plan is to screen The Great Chicken Wing Hunt for a year or so in hopes of landing a distribution deal that will lead to future television or theater screenings as well as availability on DVD and through Netflix.