Comfort food recipes served with tales from deep inside restaurant industry

In “Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly” (Hachette, 2025), author Hannah Selinger takes the reader into some of the most notable restaurants in New York City. She recounts her experiences as a server and sommelier, ruthlessly tearing down the curtain to show us the scene behind the scenes — the unrelenting pace of restaurant kitchens, interactions with celebrity chefs like David Chang and Bobby Flay, and occupational burnout, all in excruciating detail.

But Selinger offers solace at the end of each chapter, in the form of a recipe.

In one section, Selinger muses about her time working at one famous restaurant, learning on the fly. It ends with a recipe for white Burgundy-braised chicken, with a rich and creamy wine sauce over tender, braised chicken.

This homey, comforting recipe works well in the cooler September temperatures. And the dish doesn’t require seasonal ingredients that are hard to find.

Author Hannah Selinger takes readers into some of the most notable restaurants in New York City in “Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly.” (Courtesy of Little, Brown and Company)

What is white Burgundy?

White Burgundy wine is a French chardonnay from the Burgundy region. For this recipe, Selinger recommends using an inexpensive white Burgundy from Mâconnais, the southernmost region of Burgundy known for affordable chardonnay.

The pros of using bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

Thighs are some of the more affordable cuts of chicken. They usually come in a family pack, setting you back around $10 for around eight of them.

While the dish seems easy enough to halve for a smaller portion, the recipe calls for the amount that fits perfectly in a 6-quart Dutch oven.

Be sure to get bone-in, skin-on chicken, as you will need to crisp up the thighs skin-side down, using the browned bits on the bottom of the pot to develop flavor. The bones will also create a richer, more gelatinous sauce with nicer mouthfeel as it reduces.

This dish produces a creamy sauce without cream or milk

After this dish is started on the stove, it braises in the oven, letting the ingredients meld and develop rich flavor. Once it comes out of the oven, the chicken is taken out and pats of cold butter are added, emulsifying in the already-reduced chicken stock and wine.

A Dutch oven takes this one-pot meal from the stove to the oven

No extra pots and pans are needed; you can cook this entire recipe in a single Dutch oven. But check the manufacturer’s recommendations to be sure the handles and knobs on your Dutch oven lid can withstand 425-degree heat.

After this White Burgundy-Braised Chicken dish is started on the stove, it braises in the oven, letting the ingredients meld and develop rich flavor. (Candy Hom for the AJC)

White Burgundy-Braised Chicken

Serves 4 to 8

Ingredients

• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 medium shallots, thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 4 stems fresh thyme
• 1 cup white Burgundy (inexpensive, like a wine from the Mâconnais)
• 1 cup chicken stock or broth
• 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• ½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Thin slices of lemon, for serving

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Place the flour in a bowl or bag, add the seasoned chicken pieces and seal as needed. Turn or shake to coat the chicken evenly, then shake off any excess as you pull out the coated pieces. Discard any leftover flour.
3. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Working in batches, add the chicken skin-side down and cook for about 5 minutes on each side, or just until golden brown. Transfer to a plate.
4. Add the shallots and garlic to the pot and cook for 2 or 3 minutes, stirring often, until they begin to soften. Add the thyme and white wine and bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon to dislodge any browned bits. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for about 4 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by two-thirds.
5. Return the chicken thighs to the pot, skin-sides up, along with any accumulated juices. Add the stock or broth, which should not completely cover the meat. Once the liquid has heated through, cover tightly and transfer the pot to the oven. Braise for 20 to 25 minutes, until the chicken is almost cooked through and tender (and registers 155° to 160°F on an instant-read thermometer, inserted away from the bone). Uncover; continue to roast for another 8 to 10 minutes, until the exposed chicken begins to crisp up. Use tongs to transfer the chicken to a clean plate to rest while you make the sauce.
6. Return the pot to the stovetop and bring the liquid to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring once or twice, until it has reduced to about 1 cup. Discard the thyme stems and remove the pot from the heat.
7. Add the butter, half the parsley and all the lemon juice to the pot; whisk or stir until the butter has melted and forms an emulsified sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper, as needed.
8. Transfer the chicken thighs to a platter. Spoon the sauce (and garlic) evenly over them. Scatter the remaining chopped parsley and the lemon slices over the chicken. Serve hot.

Recipe excerpted from the book “Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly.” (Copyright © 2025 by Hannah Selinger.) Reprinted with permission of Little, Brown and Company, an imprint of Hachette Book Group. All rights reserved.