Best of 2003: Best Brand Of Chicken At Local Restaurants

Shelton Free-Range, Antibiotic-Free Chicken
At: Chive
558 Fourth Avenue, Gaslamp, www.chiverestaurant.com, 619-232-4483
Fio's, 801 Fifth Avenue, Gaslamp, www.fiositalian.com, 619-234-3467
and others

The chefs at Chive and Fio's are among those who've discovered the virtues of Shelton Certified Organic free-range chicken. They dress it up a little, of course, and it comes out a ravishing glamour-gal. But this brand is hard to find at local retail markets. Even Whole Foods doesn't regularly carry it (preferring the lower-priced but less flavorful "Rocky" natural chickens), but you can special-order it there. Sometimes it shows up at Ralphs on University and Jonathan's in La Jolla, or frozen in small natural-food stores.