By Marty Olmstead

Sylvia and Stephen Pryzants’ long road to having a farm of their own started in 1975, when they were living in Israel and Stephen was a dairyman on a kibbutz. After they married and moved to New York, Stephen got involved in the foodservice business and Sylvia worked as a secretary. But they kept their dream of a dairy farm alive and, in 1987, bought Four Story Hill Farm, then “a bare piece of land,” says Sylvia, with a half-finished barn. For the next five years, they continued their weekday jobs while spending every weekend at the farm restoring the barn. By the time they were ready to go into production, they realized that dairy farming was too expensive a proposition and opted for raising milk-fed veal instead.

When that became too demanding, they diversified with poultry and Berkshire pigs. Since they had milk-fed the veal, they thought they could milk-feed poultry, a tradition in parts of Burgundy, where Sylvia grew up. “I believe we are now the only people raising milk-fed poultry in America,” says Sylvia. The Pryzants sprinkle powdered milk on the feed, which they say renders the meat moist and tender.

Sylvia began making the rounds of Manhattan restaurants to sell their poussins, Muscovy and Pekin ducks and other birds. One of the first chefs to bite was Daniel Boulud. Once word got out, the Pryzants were on their way. Now the Pryzants’ prized poultry and pork are purchased by David Pasternack (Esca) and Pierre Schutz (Vong) in New York and other fine restaurants as far away as Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago and Thomas Keller’s French Laundry in the Napa Valley.

Four Story Hill Farm
21 Four Story Lane
Honesdale, PA 18431
(570) 224.4137

OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS:
Snake River Farms Kobe Beef
Snake River crosses its premiere Japanese Wagyu cattle with premium American Black Angus to create exceptional American-style Kobe beef. The company, which also produces Kurobuta pork, sells to retail outlets and restaurants such as Spago (Beverly Hills), Boulevard (San Francisco), the Kiss Steakhouse (Miami Beach), Bellagio (Las Vegas) and Nobu (New York City).

1555 Shoreline Dr., 3rd Floor
Boise, ID 83702
(800) 657.6305

D’Artagnan
D’Artagnan was founded in 1985 by Ariane Daguin and George Faison and is the leading purveyor of foie gras, pâtés, sausages, smoked delicacies, organic game and poultry in the nation.

280 Wilson Avenue
Newark, NJ 07105
(800) 327.8246

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