Mystery Restaurant Moving Into the Old Dirt Candy Space Under the Guise of 'Chickens'

A sign recently appeared in the window of the old Dirt Candy space at 430 East 9th Street, advertising the arrival of a restaurant called Chickens. Chef Amanda Cohen had initially held onto that tiny space, with the idea of turning it into something else after she moved to vegetarian restaurant to bigger digs on Allen Street, but she recently told Eater (and confirmed to EV Grieve) that she's sold it off to someone else.

Is that someone else really a restaurant called Chickens, though? Probably not. The menu posted on the sign is almost definitely a joke. Every single dish and drink involves chicken or eggs or both, and dishes include a $17 chicken bone broth, dry chicken soup, deconstructed chicken a la king, chicken dip with chicken chips, chicken tartare, and sweet chicken pot pie. So who's really taking the space? Definitely someone with a sense of humor, and probably someone hoping to keep their true identity quiet – the trick of using a fake menu to through off the news hounds has been used before, once even by David Chang when he moved Momofuku Noodle Bar. Cohen has hinted to Eater that whoever's taking the space will be a big name, so keep a close eye on Chickens. It could hatch into something good.