How chicken parm became NYC’s aphrodisiac of choice
By Suzie Weiss, New York Post , November 12, 2019
Jonny Adler and his date. Photo by Zandy Mangold
Want to lock down a New York dude this winter? Go on a parm offensive.
Local singles tell The Post that the way to a guy’s heart these days is through a nice, big meal of chicken parmigiana.
“Chicken parm guys find me. You don’t realize how many there are,” Carly Spiewak, 25, a market researcher, tells The Post.
The Hoboken resident says she first noticed the trend on the dating app Hinge.
“There’s questions that you answer on your profile — like, ‘Describe your perfect date,’ and all that corny stuff,” she says. But as she swiped, she started to notice a pattern. “If the question had anything to do with food, a bunch of guys would be talking about chicken parm. I thought, ‘What is this phenomenon?’ I told my friends, and one of them sent me three screenshots that night of guys talking about chicken parm.”
The Italian-American comfort-food dish — a hunk of breaded chicken topped with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, served on a hero roll or alongside some pasta — has a rich, if not terribly romantic, history. Historians say its predecessor, eggplant alla parmigiana, originated in southern Italy in the 18th century. Meatier riffs, with chicken and veal cutlets, arose from Italian-Americans, who were proud to be able to afford meat. By the 1950s, Italian-American restaurants were serving just about everything alla parmigiana.
These days, it’s a staple at pizzerias across the city — and, seemingly, an obsession for NYC’s single guys.
Chicken parm dish at Parm, 248 Mulberry St. Photo by Zandy Mangold
Made well, the guilty-pleasure dinner is “totally an aphrodisiac,” says parm superfan Jonny Adler, 25. The Jersey City single, who works for a catering startup, would go so far as to say that there’s an entire “chicken parm season” — mainly the colder months, which also happens to be when New York singles are looking to settle down and snuggle with someone.
“It starts in October or November, it’s big during the holidays, and it tapers around May,” says Adler.
The foodie, who also plans culinary itineraries for tourists, says that he’s attracted to women who love to chow down like he does. And although there’s more to Adler’s palate than parmigiana, it’s a passion he hopes to share with whoever he’s dating.
Once, he says, he dated a gluten-free girl — and it was a struggle.
“We found a sweet spot with gluten-free pizza,” says Adler, “but you can’t really get a gluten-free chicken parm.”
Jonny Adler and his date. Photo by Zandy Mangold
He keeps a lengthy, running list of date spots that serve the delicacy, including Tra di Noi, Zero Otto Nove, Quality Italian, Il Mulino, Carbone and — where else? — Parm, Major Food Group’s altar to the cheesy dish.
He’s not alone there: “We see a lot of first dates,” says Jeff Zalaznick, co-owner of Major Food Group. He thinks the parm-centric restaurant appeals to daters “because it makes you feel comfortable and the food is familiar. It’s something everyone can relate to.”
Chicken parm bro Brady Langmann agrees — but he thinks it’s more of a third- or fourth-date food.
“It’s the perfect make-for-a-date dish,” says the 26-year-old, who lives in Astoria and considers the chicken parm from Alba’s, near his apartment, “part of my self-care routine.”
When he really likes a woman, he says, he’ll cook the dish for her — using his mom’s recipe. “It’s about sharing something that’s important to me: the Italian side of my family.”
Zalaznick, from Parm, sees the potential for a home-cooked parm to be even more.
“I think chicken parm can be the new Engagement Chicken,” says Zalaznick, referring to the Glamour magazine recipe said to prompt marriage proposals.
Spiewak says it’s good and well if a guy wants to make it for you — but if someone asks her to get in the kitchen? Forget it.
“It’s like, ‘Prove to me you can make better chicken parm than my mom,’ ” she says.
The frustrated single lady — who prefers eggplant parm, by the way — wishes dudes would find something more interesting to focus on.
“I met this guy in real life, at a bar. And I knew he was on Hinge, so I asked him if he talked about chicken parm on his profile,” says Spiewak. “He gives me the strangest look . . . It turns out he runs a chicken parm Instagram fan account.”
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