King of Wingdom
The Anchor Bar’s Best Calling Card Is the Sauce

Sure, bars proud of their wings might quibble amongst each other regarding the best chicken to buy and the merits of flash-freezing and so on, to provide the best wing to the customer. But it just could be that the truth of mastering wingdom lies not necessarily in the chicken but in the sauce. If nothing else, creating and using a sauce unique from competitors is a point of chicken difference.

Anchoring the Menu
    With a closely guarded secret recipe, the Anchor Bar has turned into a household name for its variety of sauces and array of menu items. The Buffalo, N.Y., restaurant and bar, which claims to be the “Home of the Original Buffalo Chicken Wings,” has garnered nationwide praise and a high reputation for its  sauces and wings.
    When founders Frank and Teressa Bellissimo introduced chicken wings along with their sauces in 1964, neither knew the astounding impact that chicken wings would later have. When Teressa cooked the first plate of chicken wings, customers were surprised when they saw the plate of appetizers, because wings previously were used for flavoring in soups. The wings were a success, and it was Teressa’s special sauce that kept the customers returning.
    Since its inception, The Anchor Bar has gone on to win numerous awards for its sauces, including the prestigious James Beard award in 2003. Ivano Tuscani, executive chef at Anchor Bar, believes that Bellissimo’s secret sauce is credited for the popularity of the bar.
    “The Anchor Bar is known all over the country and the world for the sauces and the wings,” said Tuscani. “Tourists come in and try the sauce and go back and tell their friends. We have advertised in a few magazines, but it’s mostly word-of-mouth that keeps us popular.”

Have Sauce Will Travel
    Perhaps the most telling accolade a sauce could receive is patron demand to take some home with them. The popularity of the wings led the owners to begin bottling the sauces. Five bottled flavors — mild, medium, hot, suicidal for the Canadians and BBQ — allow customers to enjoy the taste of the Anchor Bar wings without having to leave home.
    Tuscani believes that many people are intrigued by the mystery surrounding the sauce, and that keeps people interested in the restaurant and bar. With so much interest surrounding the wings and sauces, along with word of mouth, the Anchor Bar doesn’t have to do as much promoting.
    “Normally, grocery stores make companies charge to get the product into the store,” Tuscani says. “But because we’re locally and internationally known, grocery stores come to us and ask to carry the product in the store.
“Our international customers are also able to enjoy our wings because we ship Japan, Italy, France, Ger-