COLUMBUS MARSHALL GRADY
Occupation: chef at Abigail's restaurant in Seneca Falls, New York
Distinction: his "Bleu Bayou" Buffalo Wings were named world's best on September 2,
2007
What makes the Bleu Bayou special: blue cheese and celery blended into the sauce. Other secret ingredients
Fun fact #1: Bleu Bayou wings were not on Abigail's menu until discovered by the hunt's judges
Fun fact #2: Grady loves to experiment. In 2005, he came up with 150 types of wings
Fun fact #3: Grady does not consider the Bleu Bayou his best wing. He prefers his 'sweet, sour and spicy' wing
Fun fact #4: Abigail's was not a planned stop. A morning radio show invited six restaurants to cook for the hunters, including Abigail's.
Fun fact #5: Abigail's went from selling a few dozen wings a day to more than 50 dozen after winning the hunt's top prize.
Grady on cooking: "Listen to customers. You're cooking for them. Never be afraid to try new things."
More tips: "Respect the wing. Be careful frying them. Overcooked is bad. Undercooked is definitely bad. Never use a thin sauce. It doesn't hold the flavor. A thick sauce grabs the wing and stays with it."
Hunt leader Matt Reynolds on Grady: "He was different from other cooks. He didn't breath down our necks and he wasn't nervous. He never mentioned winning or losing. At the same time, he seemed genuinely curious about how we liked his food."
Biographic facts
Age: 40something
Born: Geneva, New York
First wing: Mama Grady's Tabasco and margarine wings
