Like rappers, meats are fresher when raised locally. Pick up the juiciest local fare with today’s Groupon: for $10, you get $20 worth of local, sustainable pasture-raised meats from Victorian Farmstead. This Groupon can be redeemed at the farmstead’s Chop Shop in Sebastopol or at one of five farmers’ markets: Sonoma Depot (year-round), Moldovan Academy (year-round), Windsor (starts May 1), Occidental (starts June 3), and Sonoma Community Center (starts June 4).
For three generations, Victorian Farmstead has shepherded a panoply of livestock over a verdant, field-grown salad buffet. Joining forces with like-minded local ranchers allows a multifarious menu of carnivorous options, including beef, chicken, pork, and lamb. Organic-fed Cornish Cross roasters, processed humanely on-site, broil up crispy as a whole chicken ($6/lb.) or as bone-in breast ($9/lb.), and fully free-range hens brood over eggs more firm and wholesome than being scolded by Mr. Rogers ($5/dozen). Grass-fed cattle, high in healthy omega-3 fats, sizzle on summer grills in cuts such as filet ($30/lb.), top sirloin ($14/lb.), and ground beef ($7/lb.). Grace a festive feast-day celebration, such as Talk in Couplets Day, with a leg of lamb ($16/lb.) or smoked ham ($10/lb.). Victorian Farmstead’s sustainable, grass-based practices—including restricting antibiotic use to sick animals only—help lower carbon footprints while ensuring high-flavor, lower-fat protein.
Victorian Farmstead Meat Co.
Once upon a time, Victorian Farmstead Meat Co. was an "unassuming shack” on a Christmas-tree farm, according to Sunset magazine. However, after Adam Parks returned home to take over his parent’s 40-year-old tree farm, he converted the shack into a thriving meat and poultry shop that earned a slot on _Sunset_’s list of the top 50 local food shops in the west. Now, Victorian Farmstead also has its own butcher shop inside of the new Community Market in Sebastopol, which has a much wider variety of cuts, including marinated chicken breasts and kabobs.
Part pasture-raised ranch and still part Christmas-tree farm, the company raises all of its meat on Sonoma County pasture, ensuring the livestock eat a natural diet and soaks up plenty of sunshine. The results are beef cuts from bone-in rib eye to carne asada, chicken breasts, racks of lamb, and a monthly rotation of sausage, including spicy herb chicken sausage and aged Spanish-style chorizo.