Will Webber: Sous-chef in Española masters chicken wings

Feb. 13—While he's not particularly a fan of either team in Sunday's Super Bowl, Ryan Rainbird Taylor is taking a vested interest in the greatest American holiday that isn't really a holiday.

A sous-chef, he admits he'd rather be watching his beloved Dallas Cowboys on Super Sunday than prepping food in a kitchen. If (or until) that day ever comes, he'll be happy doing what he does best to make sure everyone around him celebrates the day in style.

Taylor recently launched a small business selling food out of a truck in the Española area. He specializes in Native American food, providing a full menu that's available at yapopup.square.site.

This weekend, it's all about the chicken wings. If you want them, he's got 'em.

"I mean, can you even have a Super Bowl if you're not eating wings?" Taylor said. "If you're going to eat wings, you might as well eat the best, and no one makes them better than I do."

For the Super Bowl, he's preparing enough crispy drumettes and wings to make Aaron Donald consider giving up a blitz package to get a second serving. All you have to do is pick any combination on Taylor's site and give it a go. The rest is up to him.

"When your name literally has 'bird' in it, you better be good at making wings," Taylor said. "You can't possibly find anyone who loves wings more than a guy named after something that has them."

Taylor grew up in the Española area but fell in love with wings when he moved to Chicago to study theater writing about six or seven years ago. He said he did the bar scene, bouncing from one tavern to another and tasting as many wings as possible.

He started asking questions, learning the nuances of prepping the chicken just the right way. He said he was so hooked that he once ventured into a polar vortex one Chicago winter to get himself a helping.

"Took me four hours to travel two miles, but I didn't care," he said. "When you have to have wings, you do what you need to do."

Long story short, Taylor gave up writing to become a chef. He's worked at a few upscale places in the area and now has his sights set on launching his online menu in a food truck that he hopes will become a full-time fixture for hungry socialites outside the popular hot spots in Santa Fe and Albuquerque.

To be fair, the wings thing is a fairly recent venture. His focus has long been Native dishes but he admits there's a time to give into the public demand and give football lovers what they crave most when watching a bunch of grown men smash into one another every February.

In truth, the wings thing is more a product of popular demand than convenience. Over the years, Taylor would do what all of us do and watch the Super Bowl with friends and family. He'd usually make a batch of wings but never really thought about selling them until a trip back East.

"I went to New York a couple [of] months ago and tried their wings, and that's when I started to realize I was onto something," Taylor said. "The rest of my menu has some great food on it, but I came home from that trip, and the first week I was sold out in an hour."

Last week, he sold 65 pounds of wings in less than a day. He expects to sell out all 100-plus pounds of his wings before kickoff Sunday.

If all goes well, watching the Super Bowl will have as much to do with Taylor's wings as friends, family and bloated halftime shows.

Will Webber is The New Mexican's sports editor. Email him at wwebber@sfnewmexican.com.