Chefs are battling over who came up with this 'horrifying' fried chicken sandwich first

Fried chicken sandwich drama is back and somehow weirder than before. It all began when chef Chris Bleidorn was working on a takeout restaurant idea for a San Francisco spot. The restaurant would serve fried chicken sandwiches, complete with the chicken claw. According to CNN, Bleidorn wanted Birdbox, the restaurant, to be making more of a statement about how people thoughtlessly consume meat. “Our habit is we go to a store and buy a bag full of 24 chicken wings or 24 chicken drums … we see people mindlessly toss them into their carts. Not thinking that 24 wings comes from 12 chickens”. By including the claw, Bleidorn wanted the sandwich to be waste-free and drive the philosophy of using the whole animal when cooking. Now, Toronto chef Nate Middleton is accusing the idea of being stolen from him. He tagged Bleidorn in a photo he’d posted on Instagram in December 2016 of a fried chicken sandwich with a claw. “@chrisbleidorn look familiar?” Middleton wrote. As of now, Bleidorn insists it’s a coincidence, and Middleton remains furious of Birdbox’s coverage