Though it would seem kind of crazy to have chicken shipped to you when you can pretty much find it anywhere you look, that would only be correct if we were talking about the same kind of chicken you can find pretty much anywhere you look. The chicken that we source is worth the trip.

Twelve years ago I was in the same boat, thinking that all chicken was created equal. Then I was introduced to the Martinelli brand chicken, and talk about a life changing experience! What’s so special about this producer? Probably nothing other than they're raising chickens they way they used to be 50 years ago; you might say they were natural free range before those terms were in vogue.

It’s a small second or third generation family operation, started in the countryside east of San Francisco and now after all those years find itself in the middle of the thriving community of San Leandro; this answers the age-old question which came first, the chicken or the subdivision. We buy whole chickens and whole bone-in breasts, which lets us do our own processing of the various parts (many times with ‘store-bought chicken’ the speed with which they are processed seriously degrades the end product). By buying whole parts we take the time to do it correctly. We've actually had some professional chicken eaters compare our birds to the famous French Bresse chicken, which is pretty cool.... And probably true!