At the US Open, a quest for $130 chicken nuggets
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The Karat Edition chicken nuggets from Coqodaq, which came with Petrossian caviar and a dot of creme fraiche and cost US$100 for a box of six.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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NEW YORK – Buying a US$23 (S$30) Honey Deuce cocktail or two when attending the US Open has become a New York rite of passage. The same can be said of purchasing a US$40 tournament hat.
But in 2024, during a tournament that had more than its fair share of fun, there was a new novelty treat on which tennis fans, foodies and social media influencers alike trained their focus: a US$100, or about S$130, box of chicken nuggets.
“I’m hungry. It’s different. I’m here for it,” said tourist Faris Salem, 23, from Boston, who attended the men’s singles final between Taylor Fritz of the United States and Jannik Sinner of Italy on Sept 8 and decided to try the nuggets – which are dolloped in caviar and come six to a box – after hearing about them on TikTok.
Like so many coveted items, the nuggets became a hot commodity over the two-week tournament – and the subject of some heated debate online – in part because of their exorbitant price and their air of exclusivity.
Created by the team at Coqodaq – a luxe Manhattan fried chicken restaurant that itself can be famously hard to book – the nuggets were at a stall open only to tennis fans with a ticket for the club level, home to the suites at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
On the afternoon of Sept 8, the cheapest tickets on that level available via Ticketmaster were selling for roughly US$1,000 each.
(From left) Tourists Anne Archer, Lilly Baughman and Mallory Buerger, who travelled from Philadelphia to New York for the US Open, with their boxes of nuggets at the Coqodaq concession stand.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
But many nugget enthusiasts were undeterred. A spokesperson for Gracious Hospitality Management, which runs Coqodaq and the Michelin-starred Korean steakhouse Cote, said the stall had sold roughly 100,000 handmade nuggets through the tournament.
Coqodaq would not share specific sales information, but the nuggets on offer ranged widely in price.
A single unadorned nugget could be had for as little as US$4.25 – if you agreed to buy at least eight – while both the 24 Karat Edition nuggets, which came with Petrossian caviar and a dot of creme fraiche, and the Black Gold Edition nuggets, which were covered in black truffles and truffle mayo, were US$16.67 a nugget.
Patrons at the US Open eat plain chicken nuggets, which Coqodaq offered at US$26 for six or US$34 for eight.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
The various options, each of which arrived in a glistening orange and gold box stamped with criss-crossed tennis rackets, came in quantities of six or more nuggets.
Ms Randi Mazzella, who has an apartment in Manhattan, said trying the nuggets with caviar went on her to-do list on Sept 8 at the US Open after she saw them online.
“If we’re going to get something to eat, let’s get something we could normally never get,” Ms Mazzella said. Then she added a disclaimer: “To be fair, the tickets were comped. I don’t think I would just do that.”
What could possibly make a single chicken nugget cost US$16.67? Coqodaq, which opened in January and was making its US Open debut, uses pasture-raised, certified-humane chicken, cultured non-seed oil and gluten-free batter.
And high-end, pricey food is right at home at the US Open, with the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center sometimes doubling as an upscale New York food court that pops up briefly in late summer.
As has long been the case with baseball, which is played just across the way in Flushing, many who make the journey to the US Open do so only ostensibly for the tennis.
Watching sets scattered across the grounds can be squeezed between trips to the Polo Ralph Lauren store; or the Centurion Lounge – available only to people who hold a high-end American Express card; or repeated visits to the Grey Goose Bar, where Honey Deuce cocktails flow from a tap into their collectible glasses.
The dining options alone can keep repeat attendees occupied for days.
The Michelin-starred restaurant Crown Shy offers chicken sandwiches, as does Fuku. There is an Eataly outpost, a Carnegie Deli, meats from Pat LaFrieda and a reservation-required restaurant that brings together a Michelin-starred chef, an Iron Chef and Kwame Onwuachi, of Tatiana fame.
Mr Reid Buerger from Philadelphia was in New York on Sept 8 with his daughter and two of her friends to watch the men’s final – and to try the chicken nuggets. They ordered three boxes of plain nuggets, one order of the 24 Karat nuggets and one order of the Black Gold.
“It’s amazing,” he said of the 24 Karat. “I think it’s going to be a phenomenal day. Great weather, great tennis, great food.”
Alas, not all who sought golden nuggets were able to procure them.
Ms Sydney Tom, 31, made her way up an escalator on Sunday afternoon to the club level in Arthur Ashe Stadium in search of the nuggets, but she was turned away because she did not have a ticket for there.
“I’m not tripping about it,” she said, adding that she had tried the chicken before at the Coqodaq restaurant in Manhattan.
Instead, she said she would search for some garlic fries and a Honey Deuce in the waning hours of the tournament. “They’re not that great,” she joked about the nuggets as she headed towards the stairs down from the club level. NYTIMES
