As an avid hiker, I usually end up in St George several times over the course of the summer. The Red Bluff town is my home base for meals and adventuring. At the end of a weekend of hiking, on my way out of town, and before the long drive home, I always stop at Viva Chicken for their Pollo a la Brasa. It’s my perpetual St. George food crush.
If you’re new to the Food Crush series, here’s the scoop: I spotlight dishes I can’t stop thinking about—the ones that haunt me in the best way. They might be a flawless take on a classic, something wildly creative, or just so simply good they’ve taken up permanent residence in my brain. Like any good crush, they show up uninvited, often, and with intensity. And yes, they’re always worth going out of your way for. Even when they are a 4-hour drive away from Salt Lake.
Peruvian Pollo a la Brasa, or chicken over coals, is a spit-roasted rotisserie chicken. The skin is salty and crispy, the meat is particularly juicy, and the herbs and chile used in the marinade give it an unctuous flavor with a tiny hint of heat. The marinade also typically contains soy sauce, a culinary nod to the Chinese immigrants and the Peruvian-Chinese fusion food.
One of Peru’s national dishes, it didn’t appear on the food scene until the 1950s, and given the recent timeframe, its emergence seems to be fairly well-documented. And in another wink to the culinary diversity of Peru, it was fine-tuned and made famous by a Swiss businessman named Roger Schuler. As a chicken farmer, he was not particularly successful, but as an observer and tinkerer, he was top-notch. He watched his cook, who was soaking chicken in saltwater brine and cooking them in hot coals, and decided to play with the recipe as a way to try and sell his chickens in what we would now call a farm-to-table pop-up situation.
Which brings me to St George, a Viva Chicken. The brand launched in 2013 in Charlotte and mostly exists in North and South Carolina. St George is the lone outpost due to a family friend living in Utah. They are not a chain, and 100% family-owned. You can see (and smell) the chicken roasting away as you enter. As a quick-service restaurant, there is often a line, but it moves fast. You can pick up your food to go or sit down in the dining room, and it will be delivered to your table.
One thing I love is that you can get a whole chicken and three large sides for $29.99, which will easily feed a family of four or just me for several days. You can also order a ½ chicken or a ¼ chicken, both accompanied by sides. Speaking of, Pollo a la Brasa is usually served with French fries. Before you have feelings about “French” fries being served, remember that Peru is the birthplace of the potato and has over 300 varieties. So fried potatoes are entirely appropriate. For sides, I highly recommend the Peruvian fried rice (again, influenced by Chinese cuisine), the fried yucca (similar to fries but starchier), and the plantains. The plantains are ‘maduros’ or ripe. Which translates to soft, sweet, caramelized fruit that is almost a dessert. They are my favorite.
While you are there, invest in the dipping sauces. I get all 3: the yellow aji (mild), the green huacatay (medium), and the red rocoto (hot), and use them liberally. The chicken should absolutely be eaten with your hands, and I tear off shreds caveman-style and dip them in the sauces. The skin is the best part and should be eaten while hot and crispy. And if you have any left over, it’s delicious cold out of the fridge later.
When you go
Viva Chicken
1183 East 100 S, St. George
vivachicken.com
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