Voodoo Chicken

I went to TiGeorges' Chicken a couple of times with different people and both times it was closed when the website said it would be open. See, George, an overtly friendly guy from Haiti, is "The" man behind this, he cooks, he greets, he takes your order, and he rings the cash register. When George is away or taking a siesta the place is closed. The place is almost always open for lunch, but dinner ... maybe. So call ahead if you are planning to go there specially for dinner or on weekends.

I first heard about this place a few months ago when Huell Howser did a show on this restaurant. When I was there I heard a couple of people saying, "I saw you on Huell's show!" The place is located in a part of LA called "Historic Filipinotown" which is mostly on the way to somewhere. There's the Bob Baker Marionette Theatre nearby and a Thai Massage place.

What draws people to this place is this. Slow roasted chicken on a pitfire grill fired with avocado wood. I haven't seen this type of roasting contraption before and the owner claims to have ordered it customized to his specification.

That grill is just something to watch, imagine having this in your kitchen. Oh the things I could roast... I could just get lost in my imagination. Visions of, not one but, SIX sucking pigs on that glorious rotisserie. Now back to my blog before I drift further into food porn lala land. I have to admit that what drew my interest to this place was the Lambi, a spicy Haitian Conch dish, and the Cabrit Fricasse made with goat meat. There is not a lot of places in LA to get these. But just looking at those chicken on the rotisserie, pure seduction.

So I got the lunch special, a quarter of TiGeorges's Chicken that came with some rice and beans, salad, and a kind of spicy coleslaw $7.65 and I got some Haitian fruity soda to go with the meal called Cola Lacaye $1.75. The chicken was so tender, falling of the bone tender is one thing but eating off the bone tender is another. See, one thing I will never forget about this meal is that the tip portion of the keel bone which is usually hard and cartilagenous was turned gelatinous in texture. Something I didn't think you could achieve by slow roasting. The indistinguishable spice rub on the chicken was really good and the avocado wood fire added some distinct smokiness to the chicken. I could not help but compare TiGeorges' chicken with the Peruvian chicken place Pollo Ala Brasa, both are wood fired. But I still prefer Pollo Ala Brasa's spicy well seasoned chicken. The big difference I think is brining, I don't think TiGeorges brines their chicken thereby the meat is less moist compared to Pollo ala Brasa. The thing is, TiGeorges is not just about chicken, there's Lambi, Cabrit, and Haitian Coffee which the brew fresh. I will surely be back to try the Lambi and Cabrit.

Before, when I thought of Haiti, I thought of the Carribean and Voodoo. But now Haiti to me is this place TiGeorges' Chicken and a very friendly face in George.

TiGeorges' Chicken
309 N. Glendale Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 353-9994

Pollo ala Brasa
764 S Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90005
(213) 382-4090