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Best-tasting chicken ever? Here's why top chefs are obsessed with these birds

Can't get a reservation at New York City's four-star restaurants? These lucky chickens can.In a quest to grow chickens that actually taste like chicken—instead of like the bland birds that industrial producers churn out by the billions and that we've all gotten used to buying—one pioneering entrepreneur has been feeding her poultry a diet of food from Manhattan's top restaurants. No joke.Arian
A pioneering food entrepreneur comes up with a brilliantly weird idea for raisin
Four-star chickenGeorge Clerk/E+/Getty Images / Today

Can't get a reservation at New York City's four-star restaurants? These lucky chickens can.

In a quest to grow chickens that actually taste like chicken—instead of like the bland birds that industrial producers churn out by the billions and that we've all gotten used to buying—one pioneering entrepreneur has been feeding her poultry a diet of food from Manhattan's top restaurants. No joke.

Ariane Daguin, founder of the upscale meat purveyor D'Artagnan, decided to give 220 of her Pennsylvania-raised chickens the vegetable and bread scraps from top New York City restaurants like Daniel and Per Se, to see if it impacts the flavor. The verdict? Apparently, her chickens are so mind-blowingly delicious, big-name chefs like Jean-Georges Vongerichten of Jean-Georges and Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park are ordering them to serve on their menus starting next week.

The New York Times has the full story—complete with the can't-be-avoided "Portlandia" reference.

If Daguin's idea takes off, it sounds to us like a win-win for everyone. More chickens will get to live pampered lives, free from the horrific conditions of factory farms. And happier, well-fed, more flavorful chickens mean we get to eat better too (that's if we're willing to fork up the money for those four-star birds).

The biggest winners of all? Foodie-baiting comedians, as usual. 

Salma Abdelnour is the food editor at iVillage. You can follow her on Twitter.

A version of this story originally appeared on iVillage.