UPSIDE Foods has announced that chef Dominic Crane’s acclaimed Bar Crane restaurant is launching whole-cut, cell-farmed chicken starting July 1st – in what UPSIDE believes is the first consumer sale of farmed meat in the United States. The first customers will be selected winners from a social media contest organized by UPSIDE.
“The chicken was juicy, tasty and better than supermarket chicken breast”
The event follows a historic month for UPSIDE, which recently received regulatory approval from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to sell cell-farmed chicken to chefs, restaurants and consumers. UPSIDE’s chicken is the first meat product that Chef Crane will offer on his menu starting in 2018 – when Crane Dining Group has stopped serving conventional meat out of concern for the environmental impact.
The July 1st event will feature UPSIDE’s farm-raised chicken fried in a tempura batter with chili aioli. The dish will be served in a black ceramic pot and garnished with edible flowers and greens from Chef Crane’s Blue Belle Farm.
“Being able to show the chicken and have it recognize a whole cut of chicken was important,” Amy Chen, Chief Operating Officer of Upside Food, to say Food and Wine Magazine. “So it features prominently in the recipe, and at the same time, it’s surrounded by different ingredients from his farm. [The recipe] Really fit into that broader story about sustainability and artisanship and stewardship. Everything about it is great.”
For their meals, the inaugural meal will charge just $1 – a symbolic gesture to commemorate the significance of the first farmed meat served in the United States. In addition to the lunch event, tasters will also get a tour of UPSIDE’s Engineering, Production and Innovation Center (EPIC).
Better than chicken
The UPSIDE team placed its first order for farmed chicken on June 21, Receipt of a Grant of Inspection (GOI) from the USDA, and On June 27th Barr delivered its first product to Crane.
Chef Crane initially connected with UPSIDE CEO Uma Valletti when he was a customer at one of her restaurants and says he felt inspired by her vision to transform the food system. “I also focused on taste and quality,” he added. “To my surprise and excitement, the chicken was juicy, flavorful, and better than any supermarket chicken breast I’ve had. I was sold.”