Patina Group is getting into the chicken sandwich game.
The contract-management company is known for its portfolio of about 44 restaurant outlets in sports and entertainment venues across the country, from Lincoln Ristorante in New York’s Lincoln Center, to Space 220 at Epcot in Disney World.
Now Patina Group is looking to double in size over the next five years, and that means not only growing its business within other venues, but also operating free-standing commercial restaurants.
Last month, for example, Patina Group launched the American brasserie Hundredfold in Belmont Park Village, a retail center on Long Island, with a menu developed by famed Los Angeles chef Timothy Hollingsworth. That restaurant is walking distance from UBS Arena, where Delaware North Sportservice is the exclusive food-and-beverage services provider for the New York Islanders.
Now Patina is close to signing a lease for a second free-standing location for Hundredfold, and two more are scheduled to open in hotels.
Next up: fast-casual chicken.
Early next year, Patina Group plans to launch the concept Hencraft, a chicken sandwich concept in Buffalo, New York. Up to three more outlets are expected to open in 2026 in other markets.
John Kolaski, president of Patina Group, said the idea will be tested out of parent company Delaware North’s test kitchen, which is across the street from Delaware North’s global headquarters in Buffalo. The location gives Patina Group the opportunity to test it as a restaurant concept to see how it would work best.
“We’re calling it a creative studio, a center for innovation,” Kolaski said of the space. “It’s where we could come up with new concepts and be able to decide, let’s pop that into our arenas and stadiums, or let’s bring that into our gaming business, or let’s put it into the airport—or let’s take this thing streetside.”
Hencraft will be the first to be tested in Buffalo. But once that concept is set on its path, the group could potentially rotate in a new concept to test out of the same site down the road, he said.
Kolaski said Hencraft is a brand that he feels would work well as a standalone brand, despite the increasingly crowded chicken space. (Patina Group is even open to franchising the concept, he said.)
“It’s like, why go into the chicken space? I think [this year] it was called the hot chicken summer. The chicken wars have really heated up,” Kolaski said. “But the great part is: everyone is eating more chicken.”
Buffalo, of course, is known as the birthplace of Buffalo Wings. Kolaski contends Hencraft will be the “second-best chicken invention Buffalo’s ever seen.”
Hencraft's menu will center on super-crispy fried chicken sandwiches and fried pickles. | Photo courtesy of Patina Group.
The menu centers around the CLT, a “super crunchy” golden-fried-chicken sandwich with lettuce, pickles, Kewpie mayo on a warm, buttery sesame bun.
The breading is gluten-free, though Kolaski said they don’t really plan to market it that way. The chicken is buttermilk-marinated and will be battered and fried in venues. It’s designed to stay super crisp for delivery, and for events where sandwiches might be ordered in big boxes.
On the side are pickle fries, with the same super-crisp coating, as well as cole slaw and house-made sauces.
The beverage program includes cold-pressed lemonade with a touch of cayenne, and Hencraft will offer a rotating selection of canned alcoholic beverages where alcohol is allowed.
Patina Group first began as an independent restaurant group. Founded by acclaimed chef Joachim Splichal in Los Angeles, it began with the restaurant Patina, which was free-standing originally, but later moved into Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Over 35 years and through a few mergers and acquisitions, Patina Group grew into a contract management company with a huge catering division, alongside the sports services division, both of which are also growing aggressively, Kolaski said.
“I think, over the next few years here, we’re going to be in great place to grow new concepts,” Kolaski said.
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