DeRusha Eats: Chicken Wings At D-Spot
MAPLEWOOD, Minn. (WCCO) -- The Super Bowl is unquestionably the biggest weekend of the year for chicken wings. This week in DeRusha Eats, we want you to meet a local chef who's turned the humble wing into a culinary piece of art.
Chicken wings and frying oil -- a match made in dive bar heaven. But D-Spot in Maplewood is no dive bar. Tucked away near 3M in Maplewood, it offers some of the best wings in town: sambal chile, alfredo, horseradish buffalo, blueberry, and much more.
Chef Darin Koch spent 23 years working in fine dining before opening D-Spot. So why choose wings?
"It's a blank canvas," he said. "I can do anything. I can do 389 different flavors."
Koch's most popular creation is the Black Widow wing, which is made with a soy glaze, a Cajun rub, and then topped with cracked fennel. You get hit with sweetness, and then the spice comes next.
Speaking of blank canvasses, another wing you should try is the Snackers' Wing, which is covered in peanut butter, caramel, chocolate, sea salt and nuts. It is like eating a candy bar on top of a chicken wing.
"All these sauces are made to order," Koch said, "not glug-glug-glug out of a jug, which is normally getting tossed and served with celery and blue cheese."
And it's all done with just four burners and a grill.
"A lot of people asked me why i did it. The cities have everything. I'm not going to lie to you. St. Paul, Minneapolis, they have everything," Koch said. "I live out here, my daughters go to school out here. It's a way to give back."
It's like heavy metal fine-dining, in the flavor, the technique and the taste.
D-Spot makes your order, as you order it, so know that there can be a wait if you're dining in. They're on Century Boulevard in Maplewood.