Lab-Grown Chicken Debuts in San Francisco Restaurant

San Francisco’s Bar Crenn has officially introduced cultivated chicken, made from lab-grown cells, to its menu, marking a milestone in the cultivated meat industry; however, the chicken cannot be ordered by walk-in customers.

Upside Foods and Good Meat, two companies recently granted approval by the US Department of Agriculture, will begin producing and selling their cultivated chicken. This process involves developing meat from animal cells and cultivating it in large bioreactors with the assistance of nutrients like amino acids, in an environment resembling a brewery.

On Saturday, Bar Crenn will serve cultivated chicken tempura on its menu, accompanied by burnt chili aioli and garnished with greens and edible flowers. Chef Dominique Crenn, who removed meat from the restaurant’s menu in 2018 due to concerns about factory farming, is comfortable offering cultivated chicken.

Upside Foods conducted a social media contest to determine who would have the opportunity to try the product at Bar Crenn, with the winners paying a symbolic $1. They will also have the chance to tour Upside Food’s Engineering, Production, and Innovation Center.

While more opportunities to try cultivated chicken at Bar Crenn will arise, they won’t be available immediately. Starting later this year, monthly dinner services featuring the product will be offered, and interested individuals can sign up in advance on the Bar Crenn website.

Good Meat is also collaborating with chef José Andrés to introduce its cultivated chicken at his Washington, DC, restaurant China Chilcano, although a specific date has not been announced.

The debut of cultivated chicken at Bar Crenn follows a series of approvals from the USDA and the FDA, which jointly regulate the emerging cultivated meat industry. The FDA issued a “no questions” letter to Upside Foods in November, followed by a similar letter to Good Meat in March, both confirming the safety of the product. In June, both companies received USDA approval for their product labels, which must include the term “cell-cultivated.” The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service also granted Upside Foods and Good Meat approval for their “grant of inspection” applications, signifying compliance with food safety standards.

Although cell-cultured meat is not considered vegetarian by Upside Foods or Good Meat due to its animal cell origin, it may appeal to ethical or religious vegetarians as it avoids animal harm (both companies promote it as slaughter-free) and to environmental vegetarians since cultivated meat has the potential to require less land and water compared to conventional agriculture, according to experts.