Fusion is not a dirty word. Not according to Nils Noren.

On Tuesday Noren will present a menu at Red Rooster‘s new downstairs space paying homage to Harlem’s supper clubs of yore – with a Japanese twist – for a unique fundraiser for The Gohan Society. The idea: pair a six-course American menu with exquisite artisanal sake from the northern Japanese prefecture of Akita.

Noren studied vintage menus and the history of Harlem for the inspiration behind each dish. He discovered that supper clubs of the 1920′s served chicken and waffles – no surprise there – but with a side of fried rice. And an appetizer of French soup. Eclectic yes, but that’s Harlem for you.

So the Red Rooster team collaborated on a menu that unites all these influences: fried chicken broth with a toast of collard greens, congee with crab, ginger and house-made oyster sauce, topped with quail egg to break into the soupy rice porridge. Next, ‘rig and cheese’ – a play on mac and cheese: rigatoni stuffed with shrimp, cheese sauce and fried parsley, and octopus with pork belly and a shake of rooster hot sauce.

There’ll be a chicken and waffle dish that is still “a work in progress – a delicious challenge,” laughs Noren. And a chocolate cake crowned by red velvet ice-cream: deep, dark and luscious.

But how do you pair sake, usually associated with the elegance and refinement of Japanese cuisine, with these Southern comfort dishes-with-a-twist?

Noren isn’t deterred. “Sake is delicious and very complex. People assume French wine goes with everything, even Chinese food. So why can’t sake go with everything? I want people to change their way of thinking when it comes to sake.”

Fried chicken and sake? Sounds like a completely delicious challenge.

Buy tickets for The Gohan Society’s six-course with sake pairing fundraiser at Red Rooster on Tuesday, 6 March here.