Meat

We are really excited about St. Brigid's Farm beef, approaching our kitchen and your plates this spring. Grass fed, hormone free, very local - what more could a restaurant in this day of "locavores" and "green" ask for? We spoke with co-owner Robert Fry on Sunday and the pipeline of beef is finally becoming a reality, after years of planning. Of course we have served some cuts here already, steaks and shortribs primarily, not to mention the BT Burger being SBF ground beef. And the veal - when it has been available - has been wonderful. But a steady supply of steaks and chops for the menu, that is a dream.

Photo from Vande Rose Website of their Duroc Hog

In the interim - since we've been dropped by Springfield Farms - our source for pork and beef is a company that is far from local, but at least semi-green: Vande Rose Farms from Iowa. This is still a "modern confinement operation", as they say, but perhaps a little more humane than some. The farms are owned by three families - the VanGilst, DeBruin and Rozenboom families - and they have built their specialty product over the past decade through direct marketing and, more recently, doing their own processing. It's not SBF but it's better than IBP, our source for beef and pork in the 90's, which has been bought by Tyson Foods, the biggest meat packing company in the country.

And why are we excited about Robert and Judy's "grass fed" beef? Their website - linked above - tells you why, and it's easy enough to Google more information if you need it. It just makes sense.

We hope to be serving some of this delicious beef starting in April. Now, if we could just come up with an equally local and green and humane source for lamb and pork...