The "Flannery" for Chicken? Or Pork? Or Lamb?

A lot of us here have bought from Flannery or Snake River Farms or 44 Farms or some other high-end steak purveyor that ships. It’s probably the most reliable way to get the absolute best steak (although I have also had good luck with certain Houston Whole Foods and also at Central Market).

My question is this: if one wanted to buy the best chicken or the best pork or the best lamb, is there somewhere like Flannery that ships and strives to be the best-of-the-best (i.e., the type of lamb that the top NY/SF/etc restaurants would serve)? D’Artagnan maybe? Who else?

I’ve been buying chicken, pork, and lamb (and steak and other stuff) from local sustainable farms – and it’s quite good – I’m just interested in what else is out there, now that we cook every night at home and hate going to the grocery store.

(Yes, I know Flannery sometimes sells pork and lamb, and that it’s quite good – but obviously Bryan’s specialty is steak.)

Not exactly equivilant but I have been extremely happy with D’Artagnan’s Green Circle Chicken.

One I’d avoid - Porter Road. Nothing bad, but nothing notable either.

I posted this in the gourmet thread too, but for pork this is the real deal.

d’Artagnan’s shipping costs are crazy. Try pasturebird.com.

Pasture Bird looks great!

I just went and ordered the Reload Colab pack. Gonna give it a shot, thanks for the recommendation.

I’m a big fan of the d’Artagnan Green Circle chickens. Looks like I’ll have to try Pasture Bird now. The diet looks promising.

Pasture Bird is killer. Flannery’s lamb is actually fantastic. I haven’t found a better source.

Pasture Bird seems great – thanks guys. Just ordered a Colab pack.

+1

For lamb, you’re probably looking for Elysian Fields or Lava Lake. Those are both superb, and restaurants who source from them quite rightly brag on their menus. I don’t know if they sell to the retail consumer, though it’s worth asking.

For me, salt meadow lamb (agneau de pré-salé) is in a category by itself, with the very best coming from Normandy. There was a farm in Canada that was doing pretty well, and which you could source through D’artagnan, but I believe they have shut down that operation.

Honestly, though, if there are local farms doing things right, which it sounds like there are, I urge you continue sourcing from them. It’s really hard for the little farms right now with restaurants mostly not buying. We get all our pork, lamb, eggs, chickens and some beef from a couple of local farms who have been very happy for the business.

Thanks, Sarah. Great advice. I’m still sourcing mostly from local farms, I will continue to do so, and their stuff is superb. Just getting kind of restless at home and want to explore.

Flannery has a “CA Lamb” section on their website. As we like lamb more than beef, I’ve been there a few times to check in . . . always get “there are no products matching the selection.” We’ve always gone with local farms, and been pretty happy.

Heath Putnam Farms used to sell Mangalitsa pork at Seattle area farmers markets, and it was the best pork I’ve ever had, truly exceptional. It’d have to be to sell pork chops and steaks at $20/lb and get repeat customers. Sadly, I think they are no longer in business. A quick google indicates that there are a few ranchers selling Mangalitsa now (it was completely unavailable for a few years at retail), and once I have freezer space, I’ll be ordering from one of them.

These guys are selling it: admin - Just another WordPress site

But super pricey!

I go to the farmer’s market to get fresh chicken. Fortunately I have 2 close to me, Mountain View and Sunnyvale.
The purveyor at Mountain View sells frozen chickens where as the Sunnyvale one has fresh chickens.
I will tell you that there is a big difference (maybe it has to do also with the variety of chickens they sell), especially in texture, between a frozen chicken and fresh one.

I’ve really enjoyed the lamb from Border Springs

D’Artagnan had free shipping occasionally. They have a current offer.

just ordered some. Won’t have to worry re Coronavirus. Wife will kill me.

What’s the deal with shipping? I can’t see any info on shipping on their site at all.

Yeah, pricey, more so than what I used to buy in Seattle. But not vastly more expensive. Hopefully top notch meat. Alan, you’ll have to let us know once you’ve tried some.

If you’re on the west coast, try https://tailsandtrotters.com/