The V.V. Vegan Fried Chicken Showdown 🍿, Battle 5:
Modern Love vs. Renegades of Sunset

Since I began this competition, vegan fried chicken is definitely having its moment. With the “first” vegan chicken shop now open in Los Angeles (says VegNews, to which I say: Hartbreakers), vegan chicken debuting at Kentucky Fried Chicken, and vegan fried chicken on Shark Tank, seems it’s the new “it” dish as the world, in general, steers towards mainstream vegan acceptance. In these shifting times, my showdown intends to impart the value of critical thought and high standards to all who care to listen. Because not all vegan food is created equal. And some are “created” in very unnatural ways–like by using a gas chromatography mass spectrometry system. WTH?!

With previous winners positioned to fight new contenders, I am very excited to advance into Round 2 of my Vegan Fried Chicken Battle. And I begin with a face-off I am most excited about—-Modern Love Brooklyn with its boatload of street cred (read: Isa. Read: vegan royalty) Vs. vegan victuals’ sweethearts Renegades of Sunset. With an early morning door bust in Williamsburg and a sneak attack in Sunset Park, this is battle 5.

Modern Love Brooklyn, Williamsburg
Chickn’ Sandwich

Bright and early, I arrived at Modern Love Brooklyn solo. Though I don’t find Modern Love’s space great for food photography and/or solo eating, it helps me to ponder the space I would create in my imaginary eatery. It’s easy to shrug off these things when I remind myself that this battle will be fried chicken sandwich to fried chicken sandwich only. So I get to ordering.

Their Chickn’ Sandwich contains the same fried tofu pieces from their Chickn’ & Waffles brunch dish and the Brooklyn Fried Tofu dinner, along with a coleslaw, aioli, and pickles on a sesame bun. Besides this being a bit Taco Bell-ish, I also mention it as it impacts the fine details of texture I’m going to have to consider in this very tight battle. And it may become, quite simply, a tofu vs. seitan face-off.

The sandwich overall, was fantastic. I devoured it at a speed that shocked the waitress. But lemme talk about the tofu–soft, white and glorious. The tofu would have met the breading in increased textural bliss had it been pressed then frozen before being breaded. This 90’s tofu hack does wonders for texture and chew. It was breaded wonderfully and cragged gorgeously, yes, but the tofu’s moisture level limited the potential of crunch. Especially where the tofu meets the breading, there was a small amount of sogginess. The fact that the sandwich was made up of two chicken strips doubly impacted the texture. The vegan chicken also didn’t have much seasoning on it, serving just as texture and a vehicle for garnishes.

Vegan chicken sandwiches that are made of tofu need loving care–management of moisture mostly. (Alliteration) But what are the considerations for a piece of seitan chicken? Let’s go to Industry City to find out!

Renegades of Sunset, Industry City
Fried Chik’n Sandwich

So I did a sneak attack on Renegades of Sunset, sending my friend to make the order while I ordered her Thai dish down the way in the food hall. Though I am quite sure that the renegades, in the Halloween spirit as was the entirety of Industry City, consistently deliver high standards for all their patrons. There was something satisfying to me about a blind battle. I don’t like to reveal my blogger status for a variety of reasons… but mostly because I am shy and socially awkward a lot of the time. Pair that with my wish to receive no special treatment and it’s a no-brainer. I’m not the best networker; I just want to eat vegan food. So behold, my secret vegan fried chicken sandwich.

At first bite I got something I wanted from Modern Love’s sandwich, a crunch. A crunch! This small moment is indicative of so much loving preparation. Renegades’ patty is gorgeous, craggy and delivers the crunch you’d expect. I knew in that first moment that’d they be the winners of this battle (spoiler alert), but there is more to say.

If I may go on about their house-made seitan fried chicken cutlet–it’s seasoned. You can see it in its breading and you can taste the difference it makes. Like chicken flesh, tofu and seitan and mediums of taste and texture. You do nothing, it tastes like nothing. And a seitan highlight is since you are making it from scratch, you can add flavor at every step: in the dough, in the braising, and in the final preparation. And this seitan is perfection, taste-wise. Then there’s texture. Chewy, not too dense. Deep fried deliciously, the seitan holds up wonderfully–as evident by how well it takes on the moisture of their garnishes, which are layered with consideration of not messing with that cutlet’s flow. The dill from their sandwich’s spread is welcoming and bright. This sandwich, I swear. There are no flaws. That’s why they are kicking butt!

Winner: Renegades of Sunset 🎉

Renegades of Sunset will move into the semi-finals, battling the winner of the Hartbreakers and Orchard Grocer showdown. I’ll need to be ready to jump when Orchard Grocer has the fried chicken special–and I’ll have to hope that they don’t pile a whole bunch of stuff on top of it as they often do. I’ll likely do Petisco vs. Chickpea & Olive first. My goal is to finish the entire battle in time for my trip to Los Angeles in February, where amazing things are happening with vegan fried chicken. Stay tuned!