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Top Chef’s Mei Lin wowed us with her elegant Arts District restaurant, Nightshade, and while her new, fast-casual fried-chicken concept also wields Asian ingredients in innovative ways, Daybird really sets itself apart—both from its predecessor, and from the rest of L.A.’s booming fried-chicken scene. Dusting tenders and massive planks of breaded Jidori chicken thighs with a hot-and-numbing Sichuan spice blend, Daybird is unique in a sea of Nashville-style “hot” operations, providing heat from a different dot on the globe. Sandwiches get topped with a tangy, refreshing cabbage slaw that’s rife with pickled chilies (unless you’re looking for less heat, in which case it can be made without) and can get dunked into house-made sauces such as the namesake Daybird sauce, a habanero ranch, and hot honey. Round it all out with a side of fries and some Hong Kong milk tea, for best results.