The Jersey Giant is a part of Savoy's "Chicken Revolution."

Photo: Ali Shav

Restaurateur Peter Hoffman was one of NYC’s original locavore champions when he opened SoHo’s Savoy in 1990. Known for painstakingly sourcing farm-fresh ingredients, he also brought his sustainable sensibility to the East Village’s Back Forty when it opened in 2007. He sat down with the Buzz recently to talk about Savoy’s new poultry-proficient “Chicken Revolution” menu (which runs through September 5) that focuses on heritage-bred birds.

Zagat Buzz: What inspired the “Chicken Revolution” menu?

Peter Hoffman: I started to learn about heritage birds, which have a genetic line tracing back several generations and are naturally mating and slow-growing. They are more accessible now, and we want to share that with our customers. People have become so used to the flavor of industrialized foods that when we find someone who is growing something for taste first and other values second, we notice the difference. It’s about great flavor and the celebration and support of diversity and locality.

ZB: It seems that we’ve heard so much about heritage pork, lamb and beef, and not so much chicken in the past. Why has heritage poultry been so late in the game?

PH: There's more bang for the buck with a bigger animal, so people started looking at pigs and beef earlier because there’s a higher price per pound – it’s economically more viable. But now people are eating more economically, so there is more demand for poultry.

ZB: Why is a heritage breed chicken tastier than an everyday supermarket chicken?

PH: Slower-growing birds have more intense flavor, just in the way that low-yield vines produce more intense wine. The flavor of slower-growing animals is concentrated because they didn’t get blown up and bloated, whether it’s hormones or just that genetically they gain weight quickly. The intensity and purity of flavor is different, though it still tastes like chicken.

ZB: Which specific breeds of heritage birds will be on the menu?

PH: We will be serving Jersey Giants, New Hampshires and Plymouth Rocks. But not the industrialized version of Plymouth Rocks – it’s an earlier version of it.

ZB: What is your pick dish for the upcoming menu?

PH: We are doing fried chicken at lunch, which seems to have become the 'dish celeb' at the moment for chefs around town. We are also doing a classic whole, roasted chicken that two or three people can share for dinner. It’s a celebration of eating the whole bird with wonderful summer garnishes.

– Kathleen Squires

The Chicken Revolution Menu

Lunch

Heritage Fried Chicken with Rooftop Honey Biscuits and Summer Slaw ($17)

Dinner

Heritage Breed Chicken Liver Mousse
roasted peach and wild arugula salad with semolina raisin toast ($12)

Cold Poached New Hampshire Chicken Breast
braised artichokes, buttermilk emulsion, chamomile honey ($15)

Roasted Jersey Giant Chicken (feeds two people)
pan jus and herbs de Provence; roasted summer squash, eggplant and sweet peppers; carafe of 2008 Pannonhalmi Apatsagi rosé ($60)

For reservations, call 212-219-8570.