In a city that obsesses with fried chicken, last night’s Saluting the Colonel dinner was the pinnacle of finger lickin’ fetishism.

And who else to host an evening dedicated to Colonel Sanders than Josh Ozersky? Underground Eats and Mr Cutlets welcomed guests to Little Owl The Venue to celebrate Josh’s upcoming biography Colonel Sanders and the American Dream, with cocktails by Portland’s House Spirits, and The Little Owl‘s Joey Campanaro‘s famous meatball sliders. Jackie and Adam Sappington of The Country Cat in Portland served up traditional cast-iron skillet fried chicken, along with all the Southern trimmings: sour cream mashed potatoes, collard greens with bacon, gravy and biscuits. All washed down with perfect Aviation Gin martinis. Commerce Restaurant‘s Harold Moore and Mark Wynsma presented a stunning coconut layer cake, which went down a little way too nicely with House Spirits’ soon-to-be-released coffee liqueur.

We spotted Josh packing bags of dark meat for diners to take home for carnivorous midnight feasts. Ever the consummate host.