About a year ago, during a visit to Buffalo, N.Y., we were taken to lunch at a raffish but delightful place on Main Street called Frank & Theressa's Anchor Bar. This particular establishment, now owned by Frank's and Theressa's son, Dominic Bellissimo, was chosen because of the house specialty: a chicken-wing dish said to rival chicken preparations worldwide. Indeed, the residents of Buffalo are so enamored of these chicken wings that the city officially declared July 29, 1977, to be Chicken Wing Day. The city's proclamation noted that, because of Mr. Bellissimo's kitchen, ''thousands of pounds of chicken wings are consumed by Buffalonians in restaurants and taverns throughout the city each week.''

During our noontime visit, we sampled the wings, crisply fried, coated with an incredibly tasty, buttery sauce and served with celery sticks and a special blue-cheese dressing. It was an inspired combination of foods, so marvelous that when we made the acquaintance of the owner, whose nickname is Rooster, we implored him to give us the recipe. He would not divulge it, but months later we met Janice Okun, food editor of The Buffalo Evening News. She told us that, after weeks of experimentation, she had come up with a formula for Buffalo chicken wings that duplicated in all respects the Anchor Bar's original. We tried the recipe and found it almost, if not precisely, as appealing as the food we had dined on in Buffalo.

She gave us permission to reprint her recipe. The ''secret'' ingredient, we are assured, is a special brand of hot sauce called Frank's Louisiana Red Hot Sauce. We were able to find it at our local supermarket and are told that it is available nationwide. Janice Okun's Buffalo chicken wings 24 chicken wings, about four pounds Salt, if desired Freshly ground pepper 4 cups peanut, vegetable or corn oil 4 tablespoons butter 2 to 5 tablespoons (one 2 1/2-ounce bottle) Frank's Louisiana Red Hot Sauce 1 tablespoon white vinegar Blue-cheese dressing (see recipe) Celery sticks. 1. Cut off and discard the small tip of each wing. Cut the main wing bone and second wing bone at the joint. Sprinkle the wings with salt, if desired, and pepper to taste.

2. Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer or large casserole. When it is quite hot, add half of the wings and cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the chicken wings are golden brown and crisp, remove them and drain well.