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.’