AMSTERDAM — WingFest returns to Amsterdam for its fifth installment Saturday. Hundreds of tastebuds will be delighted, and some tastebuds are invited to try and handle the heat.
Twenty-two restaurants and venues are running for the Best Chicken Wing in the City and the honor of touting the Hottest Chicken Wing in the City.
From 1 to 6 p.m., chicken wings are available for $1 each, with flavors ranging from traditional Buffalo sauce to honey hot sauce. Several stops also offer garlic parmesan wings.
Those eateries' offerings may be for the more reserved tastebuds.
Last year’s winner, Slice of Amsterdam, is defending its Hottest Wing in the City title with its Redeemer Wing, which requires the signing of a waiver to taste. However, it will have stiff competition from Lyon Street Bar and Grill chef and owner Dan Nelli and his Ferocity 2.0 wing.
Lyon Street Bar and Grill chef and owner, Dan Nelli, stirs this year's Ferocity 2.0 chicken wing sauce in the kitchen, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, preparing it for the daring tastebuds who want to take part in one of the hottest wings he's created, Ferocity 2.0 during Saturday's WingFest in Amsterdam.
“Last year, we came out with Ferocity, which I think should have won the Hottest Wing in the City competition because it was just overwhelmingly hot, but we didn't,” Nelli said. We went back to the drawing board, and I imported a bunch of different chilis and spices from around the world to create what could be one of the hottest wings ever attempted to be made.”
Lyon Street Bar and Grill chef and owner Dan Nelli is determined to capture the hottest wing in the city at this year's WingFest in Amsterdam. Daily Gazette digital content producer @stanhudy was willing to give it a try.
Nelli said this year’s wing will be hotter than last year’s original Ferocity wing entry.
“I have dabbled with some of the new spices, and it is definitely going to be hotter than last year's,” Nelli said. “If anyone had last year's, they knew what we were talking about.”
Signing a waiver is required in order to taste the Ferocity 2.0, as well as Slice of Amsterdam’s Redeemer Wing.
Nelli also offers a challenge and a wing competition around the Ferocity 2.0 wing.
Lyon Street Bar & Grill chef, owner Dan Nelli wants the title of Hottest Wing in the City at this year's WingFest in Amsterdam. Daily Gazette digital content producer took the challenge of tasting one wing prior to the big event.
The challenge requires eating two Ferocity 2.0 wings in three minutes, followed by a five-minute timeout from eating or drinking anything. Completing that challenge, which runs throughout WingFest Saturday, earns the taster a $25 restaurant gift certificate.
At 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nelli is looking for the first 10 people to sign up for a chicken wing eating contest.
“The first 10 people get 10 free chicken wings to eat,” Nelli said. “But, somewhere in the mix of each batch of 10 is a Ferocity 2.0 wing.”
The winner of that competition will win a $100 restaurant gift card.
The Ferocity 2.0 chicken win is not for the faint of heart, available at Lyon Street Bar and Grill, created by chef and owner, Dan Nelli, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. It is part of two available challenges at the business during WingFest in Amsterdam.
When questioned about the sinister twist in the challenge, Nelli laughed.
“At least we're telling the competitors, because they will have to sign the waiver,” Nelli said. “It would be worse if we just put it in and didn't tell them.”
WingFest participants can scan a QR code on the participating location lists throughout the city or scan the QR code on the City of Amsterdam Tourism Marketing and Recreation Facebook page to vote for the best and hottest wing in city categories.