.Kickin’ Chicken

Local kitchen alchemist Justin Williams is fast becoming a cult flavor master. His late-night wizardry, which began last fall delivering mainly to starving UCSC students, is catching on with taste buds beyond campus. Kickin’ Chicken delivers its spicy-sweet fried chicken and waffles to Westside residents between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. nightly. Or you can catch him and his brother and sister, Candice and Danny Mendoza, serving it up at their “Sunday Mass” at the Santa Cruz Food Lounge at 1001 Center St. in Santa Cruz. Using sous vide, a French method of cooking chicken in a water bath at a tightly controlled temperature, they then flash fry it for an amazingly crispy coat. Candice Mendoza spoke to GT about Kickin’ Chicken’s rise.

GT: Why fried chicken and waffles?

CANDICE MENDOZA: These are comfort foods that taste good late at night and are for people who want to try something new, who want something crispy, snacky and high-end. Our chicken is inspired by the idea of molecular gastronomy and pure chance. I like to think of what we make and do as inspired by a happy accident, and we keep building on that with our new recipes. But our chicken isn’t just fried chicken. The chicken is soaked in an herbal brine, vacuum-sealed and cooked first in a sous vide. We then batter it in our spicy recipe and quickly fry it. It is sweet and salty and amazingly crisp, the perfect balance of these flavors.

Why late night only?

We moved here from Los Angeles and realized the only late night foods were basically Safeway and Domino’s. Our initial customer base were UCSC students because they had no way of getting food after nine o’clock at night. They were not being fed. We don’t charge for delivery and have no minimum, as of now, so we grew exponentially.

What is Sunday Mass?

We all grew up in Catholic school, so our Sunday dinners at the Food Lounge, the only night we serve in-house, are kind of a play on “soul food.” Since we only deliver to the Westside, Sunday Mass gives people a chance to come see us at the Food Lounge, which is our home. Santa Cruz is an incredibly supportive and fun place to live and work and eat. People here are willing to explore something new. We can’t imagine doing this anywhere else.

Visit kickinchicken.com for more information. PHOTO: Justin Williams of Kickin’ Chicken works out of the Santa Cruz Food Lounge to deliver late-night comfort food to the hungry masses. Here he is with chicken, waffles and mac and cheese. CHIP SCHEUER