Sustainability Mission

Applegate Farms

We’re proud that our primary meat suppliers are our old friends at Applegate Farms. Applegate provides us with natural and organic, minimally processed turkey, chicken, beef and pork, all produced without the use of antibiotics. There’s a lot we could say about Applegate, but they do a better job than we do. So here’s what they say about their products:

 

• Our animals are never given antibiotics. Healthy animals don’t need medicine. Instead, we give them space, fresh air, and a healthy diet, which we’re certain beats the alternative.
• Our livestock eat a completely vegetarian diet with no animal by-products. Cattle in our organic program are grass-fed. Hogs and poultry in our organic program are fed a grain diet that includes corn, soy, barley, and flax that are free from GMOs.
• Our animals are never given hormones or artificial growth promotants. They grow at their natural rate.
• All of our products are made with natural and organic ingredients. If you aren’t familiar with a particular ingredient, email us and we’ll tell you what it is.
• Our products are all minimally processed, allowing for a wholesome texture and taste.
• Our products never contain artificial nitrates or nitrites. Instead, we use celery juice and sea salt to preserve our products the natural and old fashioned way.
• Our deli meat, hot dogs, burgers, and bacon are gluten and casein free.
• Our products are made from natural and organic, whole muscle meat. Yes, even our hot dogs! No mystery here.

Birch Coffee Roasters

We studied coffee options for Chelsea's Table very seriously, but we found the decision was not a difficult one. We love everything about Birch Coffee.

We could tell their story, but this is what they say about themselves:

After a year and a half of becoming one of Manhattan's best kept secrets, Jeremy Lyman and Paul Schlader decided the next step their company was going to take from serving some of NY's finest coffee, was "why don't we just roast it ourselves?"  Paul and Jeremy's attitude from the day they opened their coffee shop in 2009 was if something needed to get done they got it done, most often themselves. "It's just how we learned to do things, that much faster" says Paul as he's dumping out a batch of freshly roasted coffee onto the cooling tray.

Birch Coffee Roasters commitment to sustainability and good practices are what separate them from other roasters. When asked what the process of quality control they take, Jeremy's response was "I often just find myself asking, would I serve that to my mom? If it's an emphatic yes, we're probably good to go". Paul chimed in adding that beans are sorted both before and after they are roasted to find and remove any lingering defects [coffee lingo for bad beans].

It doesn't end there.  The Birch Coffee Roasters staff has extensive training methods once the coffee has been roasted and is about to be served. Coffee, milk, water quality, and the human touch are all major factors in producing the perfect cup. All elements need to be spot on. Through hours of training, often resulting in sleepless nights [some might say from too much caffeine] and days, weeks and sometimes months of practice, a barista is trained and the perfect latte is born.

When asked if they ever get tired of servicing others, Paul looks at Jeremy, smirks and says, "I think it is actually what we were put here to do."

 

Satur Farms

We’re thrilled to have Satur Farms as our primary produce supplier. Owned by internationally renowned chef Eberhard Müller and his wife Paulette Satur, Satur Farms is dedicated to growing fine leafy vegetables, heirloom tomatoes, root vegetables, and herbs. The farm is committed to sustainable farming, not only in relation to its fields and safe food production, but also to livable wages for employees.

Satur Farms adheres to sound agricultural practices with a focus on respect for the soil. It rotates crops, plants cover crops, and uses organically-approved sprays whenever possible. It also uses 100% recyclable packaging materials, when possible. To create continual revenues and offer year-round employment for its team, Satur Farms has winter operations in Florida, the original farm being on the North Fork of Long Island.

We’re pleased to offer you Satur Farms’ fine produce and to also support so environmentally and socially responsible an organization.

 

Stonyfield Farm

We’re particularly proud of our relationship with the leading organic yogurt company Stonyfield Farm. Our chairman and founder, Gary Hirshberg, is also Stonyfield’s chairman and co-founder. While traveling with his family and feeling, as he put it, "held hostage to junk food," Gary decided to start a new kind of restaurant, and so we got our start.

We use Stonyfield products throughout our menu, and we’re excited to introduce you to the Stonyfield Organic Dairy Bar, where you can get delicious Stonyfield frozen yogurt, Stonyfield Organic Oikos Frozen Greek Yogurt, soft serve, smoothies and parfaits.

In addition to serving Stonyfield’s delicious yogurts, we use its green business practices and long-term commitment to sustainability as a benchmark for our own practices. Stonyfield isn’t just a great yogurt company. It’s also passionate about making the world a healthier place. We’re happy to share the Stonyfield mission with you:

Yogurt on a Mission

We’re committed to healthy food, healthy people, a healthy planet and healthy business.

• Healthy food. We will craft and offer the most delicious and nourishing organic yogurts and dairy products.
• Healthy people. We will enhance the health and well-being of our consumers and colleagues.
• Healthy planet. We will help protect and restore the planet and promote the viability of family farms.
• Healthy business. We will prove that healthy profits and a healthy planet are not in conflict and that, in fact, dedication to health and sustainability enhances shareholder value. We believe that business must lead the way to a more sustainable future.

 

At Chelsea’s Table, we take the words organic and natural very seriously. 

We see the word natural in lots of food advertising these days and, like you, we immediately become suspicious. Natural falls in the same category as green and sustainable. It sounds good, but what does it mean? Unlike organic, which has a very specific federally regulated definition, natural lacks any such clarity and thus can be stretched by some companies to serve their marketing objectives.

In all of our product selection, when an organic option is not available, we only choose natural ingredients that meet our criteria: no artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, preservatives, thickeners, artificial hormones or antibiotics, and minimally processed. 

In short, our goal is to provide the delicious, fresh nutritious and healthy options that we all want. We are committed to this order of priorities: 

• Organic and Locally Produced Foods
• Organic Foods
• Natural, Locally Produced Foods
• Natural Foods 

When you see organic on our menu, you can be assured that item is certified organic, meaning it's made without the use of toxic, persistent pesticides, GMOs, antibiotics or artificial growth hormones. 

Enjoy, and let us hear from you!