Rooster Company, Newington
Is there anything better than a crispy, rotisserie chicken with burnished skin and moist meat (sorry all you vegetarians out there)? But it’s an elusive treat. The supermarket variety does in a pinch, but I’m never sure how long it’s been hanging around in the warming case and what exactly is all the liquid that pools in the bottom of the container? After a morning browsing the New Britain Museum, we raced over (just 5 miles!) to Rooster Company in Newington. We couldn’t resist the fat-on-fat lure of the chef’s plate: a local, organic, brined half chicken topped with cracklin’s (yes, yum) and served with paté and chicken leg confit. Could have skipped the paté, but the chicken was excellent. No stringy, dried out meat here, but a plump and juicy hunk with well bronzed skin. We made short work of it. The prospect of rotisserie on the horizon didn’t keep us from ordering a starter of meaty pork belly served with a creamy corn custard, a lovely juxtaposition of flavors and textures. A pressed cucumber salad was a fresh note after our feast of fat (pork belly and pate!) Nice, too, that we could get a chicken to go which carried us through the first few suppers of the week. If you’re in the area, or at the New Britain Museum, Rooster Co. is definitely worth a detour.
