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Cluck N' Roll's Parmesan Garlic/Herb wings, co-founder Noah Golfman's personal favorite
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Buffalo-tossed wings drizzled with Cluck N' Roll's Beet the Reaper sauce
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Noah Golfman, co-founder of the pop-up Cluck N' Roll
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Tom Hall of Cluck N' Roll during its second pop-up at Hatch Cafe
Typically, when chefs have a vision, they tend to start small, build slowly and take things up a notch as they go. But when the team behind Cluck N’ Roll made their debut pop-up appearance, they rolled out a 20-strong collection of spices and rubs.
“If you can get away with selling peanut-butter-and-jelly wings, you can kind of do anything,” jokes co-founder Noah Golfman of the inaugural menu.
Last November, Cluck N’ Roll held a two-day pop-up event at Bell Cafe in Midlothian with some atypical offerings including wings rubbed and tossed in flavors from a poached butternut squash and sage chimichurri to a pho-inspired flavor made with pho broth, fried garlic, fresh jalapenos, Thai basil and cilantro, as well as mole and a “Don’t Go to Hate-Fil-A” flavor, featuring pickled hot sauce and a barbecue-mustard drizzle.
After a hiatus following its second event in April — and simultaneously continuing to navigate the national chicken wing shortage — the pop-up returns today from 5 to 8 p.m. at Hatch Cafe for an event dedicated to the boneless variety of wings.
Golfman says the idea for Cluck N’ Roll was the result of a spirited conversation between friends and fellow back-of-house employees, bonding over an adoration for the app/snack/meal of which people constantly seem to be searching for the best version.
“It was kind of just a conversation talking about food — get three cooks together with drinks, that’s what were gong to do,” says Golfman, 30, formerly of EAT Restaurant Partners, with stints at Wong Gonzalez, Red Salt Sushi & Chophouse, and the now shuttered Blue Goat.
Currently, the pop-up is led by Golfman along with longtime friend and former co-worker Tom Hall of Don’t Look Back South, in addition to their “third wheel,” Mark Sanchez of Fighting Fish. The trio previously worked together at the gaming-palace-meets-brewery in Scott’s Addition, Bingo, with the first pop-up also featuring former GWARbar chef Jeremy Dutra.
While getting creative and using chicken wings as the foundation for an array of chef-driven flavors has been done before, Cluck N’ Roll’s attitude is a little looser.
Golfman says the goal is to continue to host pop-ups, with a potential brick-and-mortar space in the future, and that while wings dominate Cluck N’ Roll’s offerings, a physical location would allow room for the concept to evolve.
“It stared as wings, but we know we’ll have to offer something more than that and diversify [the menu] with a bunch of chicken things,” he says, mentioning sandwiches and burritos.
For now, Golfman says their five core sauces are Buffalo, Backyard BBQ, Parmesan Garlic/Herb, General Tso and Beet the Reaper, a crowd favorite that blends Carolina Reaper peppers with the root vegetable for a sweet-tinged burst of heat. Cluck N’ Roll also offers vegan wings using homemade seitan, and its entire collection of sauces and rubs is vegan.
“Pretty confident we make some of the best wings in town,” the Richmond native says. “I think for now we’ll stick with the familiar, but we’ll def throw a curveball in there. The wild flavors are more just for fun.”
And whether you believe a boneless wing is basically a chicken nugget, or you’re pro-flat or pro-drum, Golfman says, “All wings are created equally,” and in their kitchen, “extra crispy,” Cluck N’ Roll’s tagline.
“One of people’s biggest complaints is wings aren’t cooked enough. We can say it loud and proud: Our wings are crispy every single time,” Golfman says.
