Chad Rosenthal runs Mary in Ambler, Pennsylvania, plus The Chicken Strip Club next door. He is also known as the man behind Motel Fried Chicken. Two of his three concepts are fried chicken concepts. The man has a thesis.
He brought fried chicken against Bobby. Which, if you have read the Viet Pham headnote in this series, you know is a referendum on Bobby's standing in the genre. Fried chicken is the dish Bobby loses at the most reliably. Brining, dredging, frying temperature, resting — there are four chances to mess it up, and Bobby tends to mess up at least one.
Rosenthal didn't. He has been refining one bird across three restaurants. The fourth chance to mess it up was the only one that counted.