Jay-Z Winged at Buffalo Boss

When I heard Jay-Z had bankrolled a Buffalo chicken wing restaurant started by a relative in the midst of BAM in Brooklyn, the first question that occurred to me was, "How are the wings?" Well, the short answer is: They're pretty good.

There are four levels of hotness on the menu marked "Hell," and an additional two more mild levels in the section marked "Heaven," which also contains three other flavors of wings, in a honey and teriyaki vein. Unaccountably, the celery and blue cheese dressing are missing entirely from the formula. Get over it, or bring your own.

I tried the very hottest, colorfully called "N'Sinerator," making more puns that I'd care to disentangle. These are not the dryish wings you find many places, but very heavily dressed with a thick, brick-red sauce. The hottest version was certainly hot, but about 25 percent of what I can stand, particularly if it is some Sichuan dish swimming in chile oil with three or four kinds of pepper in it. The flavor of the wings is a little sweet, and a little low on vinegar, but pretty good nonetheless. There might be a touch of barbecue sauce in the mix, too.

I also tried the lowest level of Hell, called merely "Hot." This level seemed to be achieved by diluting the hottest sauce with a sweet sauce. Strangely, the sweetness almost made it seem hotter than the hottest level.