Neighborhood Eats: Melba's comes to Grand Central Terminal with a new chicken sandwich
MIDTOWN (WABC) -- This week's Neighborhood Eats takes us to Melba's in Manhattan.
The one and only Melba is now bringing the comfort food she made iconic in Harlem to Grand Central Terminal.
"I'm super excited because we are here in Grand Central Terminal and we're at Melba's. Oh, you down with GCT? Yeah. You know me," she said. "Grant Central Terminal is iconic and it was so important for me to bring a little bit of that Harlem flavor, that Harlem soul, that Harlem comfort to the iconic Grand Central Terminal."
Melba's opened in Harlem in 2005, she didn't realize that she would open more than just the one restaurant.
"Now there's this one in Harlem, now there's a Prudential Center, Melba's Central Park, and Melba's GCT," said Melba Wilson, owner.
So, what makes her chicken so good?
"Well, first of all, it's the bird. Okay? What do I mean by that? It is free range chicken. It's organic. It's some of the best chicken that you will ever, ever find," Wilson said. "Then what I do is, it's all about the brine, the brine and the seasoning."
Once the chicken is brined, the process continues.
"What we're going to do is, we're going to put it in flour. So, my flour is also seasoned. You see that? Don't just give me no white flour. I need some seasoning," Wilson said.
Then, the chicken goes right into the deep fryer.
"Your grandmother does not use a timer. Neither do I. When you've done this so many times, you kind of start. I know it's said that we have served over 11 million people in Harlem," Wilson said. "I didn't reinvent the waffle. I just kind of made it better."
It's a story with her son that led to one of her best inventions.
"My son said, 'I woke up, mom, what are you making for breakfast?' So I replied, 'What did you like?' Wilson said. "'I want some waffles.'"
"I went in the fridge. I didn't have any milk. I didn't have any half and half. I didn't even have any cream. But what I did have was some cola, not going to work, orange juice definitely not, going to work. But, I had some homemade eggnog that I'd made for Thanksgiving or the day before. But that bad boy, my batter. My son got," she said.
He told her they were the best waffles ever!
In Grand Central they have a new offering.
"Our cold chicken sandwich. Oh, my God. It is so, so good. You can get it with Melba's barbecue sauce and all this hot sauce. Choose coleslaw on that. That's the option. But what you're going to get is you're going to get something that's not fried, that's oven baked, and it's cold pulled with love, but also delicious," she said.
She said people's reaction to her new spot in Grand Central has left her with hope.
"You know, when people see me, someone that's very open and honest about who I am, about how I started and where I came from, the story that we hear most often is that they feel that if I can do it, they can do it too," Wilson said.
Instead of spending money on advertising, she uses that budget for investing into the community.
"If my life can be an example to what someone can achieve in or out of the food industry. That my living has not even been down to Melba's, because we are an oasis of comfort right here in the bustling heart of New York City. Come on, eat, drink, be merry," Wilson said.
You can learn more about Melba's Restaurant HERE.
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