The Chicken Parm Recipe That (Almost) Beat a Michelin-Starred Chef

How does a food writer end up in a cooking battle against a Michelin-starred chef? That’s a question I pondered as I watched Fonda Fina Hospitality chef/owner Johnny Curiel placing slices of pickled Fresno chiles on his version of chicken parm with a pair of tweezers — a piece of equipment I have never used in a kitchen.

A month ago, I got a text from Kip Wilson, known to many for his Stoned Appetit podcast and social media presence. These days, he’s also the membership and partnership coordinator for EatDenver, a nonprofit that supports the city’s independently owned eateries. “Are you perhaps free for a call today? Wanna propose an idea to ya,” he wrote.

The idea: Food Fight, an EatDenver member event pitting a local food writer or influencer against a local chef. He’d secured Johnny Curiel as the first chef participant, and Johnny had asked to challenge me. I was flattered — and appropriately intimidated. I consider myself a better-than-average home cook, but I have absolutely no professional cooking experience.

Johnny, on the other hand, has been very, very busy over the last two and a half years. After a long career cooking in other people’s restaurants (I first met him in 2018, when he was working at Centro Mexican Kitchen in Boulder), he and his wife/business partner, Kasie Curiel, struck out on their own, opening Alma Fonda Fina in December 2023. The following July, they added Cozobi Fonda Fina in Boulder. Four months later, Mezcaleria Alma opened next door to Alma Fonda Fina. Last March, Alteño debuted in Cherry Creek, where the Curiels doubled down in January with the addition of Mar Bella Wine Bar. Whew!

In the process, they’ve also rapidly racked up a lot of accolades, including Michelin stars for Alma Fonda Fina and Mezcaleria Alma. Curiel is a 2026 James Beard finalist in the Best Chef: Mountain category, as well.

Next month, Fonda Fina Hospitality is leveling up once again with Fonda Maize, the group’s first high-end tasting menu concept, which will serve just eight guests at a time (and is not to be confused with Maiz, our 2023 Best Food Truck pick, which opened a brick-and-mortar cafe in January).

The Competition

Fully aware of Johnny’s credentials, I said yes to the idea without hesitation. I love a good challenge, and rarely pass up any opportunity for an intriguing life experience. Wilson assured me this was more about fun than competition, but I still wanted to win — or, at the very least, not embarrass myself — so I took this task seriously.

I was allowed to pick the dish we’d be cooking, so I landed on chicken parm, something firmly outside of Johnny’s Mexican-focused culinary wheelhouse. I also got to bring along a sous chef — a very easy choice, because my partner, Matt Baez, is a professional chef (he’s currently on the line at Bistro Vendôme). To keep the skill levels on a more equal playing field (and to add a layer of couples competition fun), I suggested that Johnny bring Kasie as his sous.

On April 13, we gathered at Food Lab’s gorgeous new South Pearl Street space, where it hosts cooking classes and private events — and here’s a shoutout to its talented team, which helped me locate immersion blenders and whisks while whipping up a beautiful spread of appetizers and charcuterie for the crowd of industry professionals that served as our audience. Using ingredients provided by Ben E. Keith, the cooking got underway with an appropriate amount of friendly shit-talking, a little bit of chaos (I did eventually find the butter that was a key component of my sauce) and plenty of kitchen camaraderie. Thanks, Johnny, for shredding enough cheese for both of us!

In the end, we both pulled off making five servings of chicken parm for the judges, along with sample-sized bites for the crowd of around twenty hungry guests.

Johnny’s version was inspired by the popular tri-sauce pizza trend, and he opted to use the tagines that Food Lab had on hand as serving vessels. Along with marinara, vodka sauce and pesto, he topped his chicken dish with burrata that he’d brought for the competition — which technically was allowed but…

Even with that burrata boost, when the votes were tallied, my chicken parm was awarded 430 points…while Johnny’s just edged out for the win with 435.

It really couldn’t have been closer — or more fun. At the end of the day, everyone won because we all got to feast on two very good versions of chicken parm.

EatDenver is planning to make this a series, so if there’s a local food writer or influencer you’d like to see cook against a professional chef, shoot the group a DM on Instagram.

Molly’s (Almost) Winning Chicken Parm with Caesar Gremolata

As a home cook, recipes and measuring really aren’t my thing. I use the “follow your heart” rule and encourage you to do the same. Here’s the general technique for the chicken parm that nearly beat Johnny Curiel’s.

The sauce

Start your sauce first so it can simmer away while you do the rest of the steps. I used what may be the simplest and most famous tomato sauce recipe. Warning: this is not marinara. There’s no garlic. Trust the process.

The recipe comes from iconic Italian cooking writer Marcella Hazan and uses just three ingredients. Acquire the best quality whole canned tomatoes (28 ounces) you can (read: San Marzanos). Add those to a pot with a stick of butter (unsalted, preferably, so you can season the sauce itself to taste, but salted is fine if that’s all you have on hand). Then cut a yellow or white onion in half, remove the skin and add that to the party.

That’s it. Let it simmer away for at least 45 minutes, taste and add salt if needed. The original recipe says to remove the onion (which turns into a tender treat that you can definitely just snack on), but I like to incorporate it using an immersion blender.

To make the sauce even richer, I added enough heavy cream to give it a bright orange hue.

The chicken

I know thighs are more flavorful and fatty, and I generally prefer them. But when I’m making chicken cutlets, breasts are best. They tend to be easier to pound thin, and I love a bigass chicken Parm that covers the entire plate.

So: Butterfly the breasts, then cover them with plastic wrap to avoid making a mess while you pound them thin using a meat mallet (or wine bottle, which is what we used at home, or a rolling pin, which is what we used at Food Lab).

At this point, you can just pull the chicken out and start the breading process, but one way to amp up the flavor is by giving the chicken a brief brine bath. To echo the flavors in the Caesar gremolata, we took a basic brine (salt, sugar and vinegar mixed with some warm water) and added a glug of Worcestershire sauce and a couple of spoonfuls of Dijon mustard. This is something you could do ahead of time, but even a twenty-minute soak in the brine makes a difference.

To set up your breading station, you’ll need three vessels (plates, trays, whatever you have that your chicken will fit in) for flour, eggs and breadcrumbs (I prefer a mix of Panko and traditional plain breadcrumbs).

The big tip: Remember to season. I added salt and garlic powder to the flour; the eggs were combined with salt and more Dijon and Worcestershire; and the breadcrumbs got salt, garlic powder and onion powder. It’s also key to really press in the breadcrumbs so that you don’t end up with a crust that flakes off.

Those breaded cutlets can hang out in the fridge for a bit, which also helps create better crust adherence.

Then just fry them off in canola oil. Pro tip from chef and restaurateur Kelly Whitaker, who attended the event: Flip them more often than you think you need to for a more even result. You should also have a paper towel-lined baking sheet on hand as a landing pad for your golden beauties.

The game-changing topping

Of course, I couldn’t show up to this Food Fight with a standard chicken parm. I wanted something that a home cook could replicate – nothing too fancy or chef-y, but I also wanted to elevate the dish enough to stand out.

While interviewing Whitaker recently, I mentioned my upcoming chicken parm battle, and he suggested topping the whole thing with a Caesar salad. I love Caesar anything, so I was into the idea, but my partner was hesitant — no one wants their lettuce getting warm and wilty. So we brainstormed other ideas for adding that zippy Caesar pop and landed on gremolata, a bright Italian condiment made with parsley, lemon zest and garlic.

For our version, we combined finely chopped parsley and basil with lemon zest and juice, minced garlic, minced anchovies, olive oil, Dijon, Worcestershire and grated Parmesan. I also added some of the anchovy oil. You can adjust the amounts of any of those components to your liking.

Putting it all together

Remove the paper towels from your baking sheet so the chicken is sitting directly on the pan. Add a small scoop of sauce on top and use a pastry brush to spread it — no need to smother the chicken in sauce, that’s what leads to non-crispy chicken.

Generously pile on cheese. I like a mix of freshly grated low-moisture mozzarella (never pre-shredded, which does not melt as well because it’s coated in anti-caking agents), some ripped-up pieces of fresh mozzarella and plenty of grated Parmesan.

Broil on medium or high until the cheese is melted and starting to get some golden spots.

Spoon a pool of sauce on your serving plate, top with the cheesy chicken and add a scoop of the Caesar gremolata on top.

Then dig into this variation on one of my all-time favorite comfort foods!