Nearly gone afoul

Claudia Peschiutta

DOWNTOWN -- In a restaurant where the Southwest chicken sandwich,

grilled chicken quesadilla and grilled chicken Caesar salad are among the

most popular items, there is one thing the chef always needs: chicken.

Kevin MacLaren, executive chef at Canyon Cafe, was forced to face the

nightmarish possibility of a lunch-hour rush without chicken Thursday

when a delivery truck fell more than two hours behind schedule.

“Chicken is on about 80% of my menu and not having chicken, it’s

almost useless to open the doors,” he said.

After dealing with a breakdown and getting lost on the way to the

restaurant, the truck driver arrived with the eagerly awaited 175 pounds

of chicken at about noon, MacLaren said.

“I’d be pulling my hair out right now if I didn’t have chicken,” he

said at about 12:30 p.m., during the heart of the lunch rush. “I’m a

young man. I need my hair.”

Sarah Rosenberg, an organizer for the American Film Institute’s annual

film festival, came to the restaurant Thursday morning to sample some of

MacLaren’s work, as the restaurant is one of 12 food sponsors for the

upcoming AFI Fest 2000.

“He’s in complete dismay without the chicken,” she said. “I think

we’ll try chicken a different day.’