Belles Hot Chicken released two limited-edition menu items today – hot wings and spicy shoestring fries – that perfectly encapsulate how pretty much everyone in the world is feeling right now.
The Wild Wings come in three different spice levels: mild Classic Southern, Spicy Maple Butter with a cayenne kick, and the thermo-nuclear F**K COVID that will have tears of rage-joy streaming down your face. Talk about eating your feelings. The spicy shoestring fries sit a little lower on the Scoville scale but still deliver enough heat to help you sweat out some of that pent up frustration.
So what exactly is so appealing about the prospect of fried chicken so spicy it makes you cry? Perhaps there’s a perverse satisfaction to self-inflicting this level of pain, as if defiantly proving to ourselves that if we can swallow the fire of a thousand suns, this pandemic hasn’t got us beat yet. Or perhaps we just want to feel something again because after the emotional rollercoaster that has been 2020 we’re now basically numb inside. Who knows? At this point, we’re really past caring. Just bring us some wings, a paper towel to stuff in our collar like a bib, and then leave the room and close the door behind you, thanks.
Wild Wings and spicy shoestring fries will be on the menu for at least one month, and possibly longer; Belles has promised they won’t nip the bird until we stop feeling the need to flip the bird. The limited-edition items are available for takeaway from all three Sydney branches, in Barangaroo, Darling Square and the Tramsheds.