Basa Basa

John and Caprial Pence—Portland fine dining mainstays, teachers of cooking classes, writers of cookbooks, and public television personalities—have traded in their white table cloths for something simpler—fried chicken to be exact. After experimenting with several restaurant concepts, the pair decided that fried Korean-style chicken wings was the way to go. The plan, John Pence explains, is to offer a menu where you can eat for $10 or less, choosing from wings (with three different sauces), French fries, macaroni salad, and rice, all of which can be washed down with soda, beer, wine or sake. As for the name? John Pence points to the Basan, Korea's "mythical fire-breathing chicken monster," whose flapped wings make the sound basa basa as it swoops down to catch its prey. Chad Walsh, 10/2/2012