Griggstown Quail Farm

Griggstown Quail Farm is a local producer of game birds for restaurants.

History

It is located in the Griggstown section of Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey, and was started in 1973 by George Rude with twelve quail on two acres. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Princeton; Birds of Many Feathers |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=980DE3D9103DF931A15751C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon= |quote=Griggstown Quail Farm in Princeton started out in the 1970's with 12 quail; within only a few years it had 12,000 birds and was supplying hundreds a week to haute restaurants in New York City, among them Lutèce and the Four Seasons. For the last 10 years the farm has also been supplying game birds to the country's leading purveyor, D'Artagnan, in Newark. Then, last year, Joan and George Rude, the owners of the farm, opened a retail store so the public could buy the same locally raised, all-natural birds that top-name chefs do. |work=New York Times |date=February 22, 2004 |accessdate=2008-07-26 ] At that time the farm was owned by Peter Josten. George purchased the land from Josten in 1992, the Griggstown Quail Farm grew to over 75 acres of land. As of 2007 the farm has about 35,000 pheasants, 70,000 quail, and 150,000 chickens. IN season they raise Mallard duck, Muscovy duck, Bourbon Red turkey, and partridge. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=On the Side |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-32995057_ITM |quote=Princeton's Griggstown Quail Farm has gotten into the act: Its slow-growing Bourbon Red turkeys range free in outdoor pens, ... |work=Philadelphia Inquirer |date=September 27, 2007 |accessdate=2008-07-26 ] All the birds are free-range.

The birds are sold to D'Artagnan, Inc., in Newark, New Jersey. In addition, a number of other distributors and restaurants carry poultry raised on the farm. Distributors in New York include Cittarella Market and Ottomanelli Sons, as well as a number of New York City restaurants. New Jersey restaurants that use the poultry include The Bernards Inn, The Ryland Inn, Mediterra, Tre Piani, Brothers Moon, Anton's at the Swan, Circa and the Lawrenceville Inn. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Griggstown Quail Farm raises pheasants, quail and more |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20061023101737/http://www.pacpubserver.com/new/news/4-7-99/quailfarm.html |quote=George Rude started raising bobwhite quail around 1975, mostly supplying them to hunt clubs. But his then-partner happened to know James Beard, often hailed as the father of American cooking, and soon the farm was raising and supplying quail for the kitchen of this champion of American food. |work=Princeton Packet |date=April 7, 1999 |accessdate=2008-07-24 ]

Matthew Sytsema is the market and kitchen manager. He had worked previously at the Ryland Inn. [cite news |first=James |last=Held |authorlink= |publisher=Edible Communities |title=Flying High |url= |quote= |work=EdibleJersey |date=2007 |accessdate=2008-07-25 ]

References

External links

*Geolinks-US-streetscale|40.443077|-74.601701
* [http://www.griggstownquailfarm.com Griggstown Quail Farm]