We proudly offer locally sourced and responsibly-raised meats, seafood, and produce.
Working closely with local farmers and foragers ensures that all of our products are fresh and of the highest quality.
Some of our local partners (In no particular order):
Kilgus Family Farmstead
Carnivore Oak Park's primary supplier for naturally raised beef, pork, lamb, goat, and dairy products is the Kilgus Farmstead. Founded as a dairy farm in 1950, they have grown to supply heritage breed Jersey beef steers, Berkshire hogs, Boer goats, and pastured lamb. The farm has been raising Jersey breed dairy cows since the beginning. Jersey cows produce the milk with the highest percentage of butter fat of any breed ensuring the farm produces rich products. Specializing in non-homogenized milk, heavy cream, ice cream, Kilgus Farms also provides sour cream, buttermilk and yogurt. The animals farmed by the family are carefully selected for superior genetics and raised with the highest standards of animal care possible. The feed all of their animals eat is supplemented with non-GMO corn and grown on the farm.
Erik and Brad met Justin Kilgus just over 10 years ago. Both Brad and Erik were in the middle of a months-long build-out that saw continual construction delays, though meeting Justin allowed them a little relaxation. After sampling the Jersey breed beef and Berkshire pork and spending the day on the farm, a significant hurdle was cleared. Carnivore would proudly begin a close relationship with the Kilgus family farm. Not only because they produce the best beef and pork in Illinois, but because they share common values – a commitment to raising healthy animals in a sustainable manner.
About 18 years ago Justin and younger brother Trent had a 4-H project to raise the Boer goats and bring them to market. The project led to one of the farms most important projects – putting their products into the kitchens of Rick Bayless' “Frontera Grill” and Stefanie Izard's “Girl and the Goat” restaurants. Still today they work closely with the goat herd on a daily basis. This generation of the Kilgus family is deeply involved in guaranteeing the farms economic sustainability. Cousin Matt is the farmstead manager, his wife Jenna is involved with branding, day to day at the country store and farm tours. Justin manages the farmsteads wholesale arm and is Carnivore's most important phone call each week. Justin and wife Kaylee have three boys and two girls, who like dad, concern themselves with looking after and raising the goats. Younger brother Trent manages the herd of goats as well as mixing the feed blend that keeps all their animals healthy. He's passionate about the health of the farmsteads animals and Trent can be found exercising individual animals.
The Kilgus family has a strong commitment to the land they farm and practice farming methods that ensure a sustainable future. About 6 years ago Kilgus Farm installed their first bioreactor digester. This 50 year old technology utilizes anaerobic bacteria to turn the animal waste into methane gas, which gets stored and later then ignited, turning an electrical generator. This simple technology has been updated greatly in the last 10 years. Now cutting edge bioreactors burn clean ensuring the Kilgus Farmstead offsets a significant portion of the farms energy usage and keeping the farms carbon footprint the lowest levels possible.
The Kilgus Farmstead now makes deliveries to Chicago two days a week, another day delivering downstate and to St. Louis. Justin continues the long term relationships developed with Chicago's finest chefs, and of course with Carnivore Oak Park. Carnivore is proud to have helped them extend their reach as far north as into the Northshore of Chicago. At Carnivore's recommendation the farm to table butcher shop, Homestead Meats, realized that the Kilgus family's farming practices are some of the best possible, and the meats and dairy quality surpasses any available.
At no point, even the first nuance of an idea of opening a butcher shop focusing on sustainable agriculture, did Brad and Erik think that what they were attempting would be theirs alone. Only by building relationships both with suppliers like Justin, Ehran at Homestead Meats – that some would consider a competitor – would Carnivore be able to share their passion for excellent food, changing foodways in our community, while linking a community 100 miles away as neighbors sharing common values.
Garden Gate Farms
“One of the relationships we value most deeply is the ongoing friendship/business (it goes both ways indeed) that has developed with Garden Gate Farm. Doug and Beth Rinkenberger founded Garden Gate Farm in 2009 after buying a 100 year old dairy farm. Joining with the ad hoc small farmer cooperative “Stewards of the Land.” They soon began growing specialty garden vegetables for Chicago and St. Louis fine dining restaurants.
Doug's full time job was at an animal feed mill. 14 years ago a coworker sold them a large number of turkey chicks. The low start up price allowed Doug to look into poultry meat as a revenue stream. Garden Gate Farm was still in a speculative phase, acting as an incubator (pun intended) for new farm commodities to sustain the farm financially. Committed to improving their land in regenerative and sustainable manner the Rinkenberger's twin daughters took charge the flock of Broad Breasted White turkeys. They raised them on pasture while supplementing the diet with all natural locally grown grain. In 2011 Doug and Beth conscientiously chose their flock, concentrating on the larger Tom Turkeys. Then 17, the twins again pastured the flock, sustainably raising healthy turkeys, again proving that their efforts were financially sustainable.
Carnivore Oak Park opened in late summer 2014. Meeting Doug and Beth previous to opening Brad and Erik decided that Garden Gate Farm would be the turkey supplier. They were trying to wrap our heads around needing one or two large turkeys per week for smoked turkey breast for the deli, then processing the rest as one pound chubs or sausage. We naively thought we would be able to sell about 150 birds each year. Boy were we wrong! That first Thanksgiving over 250 Garden Gate Farm's pasture raise turkeys wound up on dinner tables in our community.
In 2015 Doug left his job at the feed mill to become a full time farmer. Carnivore is incredibly fortunate and proud to have been part of Garden Gate Farm's growth. Today Doug supplies over 400 turkeys a year to Carnivore, mostly during the holiday season. Doug now spends two weekdays on the road – one day delivering to Springfield, St. Louis and Central Illinois – one day delivering to restaurants, hotels, and select grocery stores in the Chicago area. Of course the last stop of the day is Carnivore Oak Park every Tuesday.
Doug and Beth are as committed to improving their land as they are to raising a family in a faith based community supportive of stewarding the Earth. Our local community played a part in supporting Doug and Beth's financing a farmhouse and acreage for their daughter Brianna and family. Doug planted over 1,500 heirloom asparagus plants on the land, ensuring that the next generation will provide sustainably raised produce for our community. Doug and Beth have eight grandchildren, and they excitedly let's us know when another is on the way, showing us photos after each grandchild is born. Before the year is out they expect to bring the total to 10 young ones. The Rinkenbergers have been a constant positive influence in all our lives. We share common commitments, personal passions and deeply held ideals – we've managed to find common cause and look to each other as neighbors – 100 miles apart.
We didn't begin this business operate in a vacuum. Value is found in building relationships with folks like Doug and Beth. We make sure we're as proud to sell their farmed goods as they are in ensuring that everything they grow is done so in the right way. As much as we find value in serving our community and clients – making sure we service and teach when needed – we also recognize only the continued relationships with those that grow the food we choose to eat continues in a supportive manner, for many future generations. While we look at our team, our staff, as valued assets making Carnivore special, we realize that they have developed not just the relationships with our farmers – but become valued members of our local community – becoming friends and comrades with many of our customers. We come to work each day to supply our community with the best in thoughtfully raised proteins and produce. We look to the future with a commitment to continue to grow and serve for all our communities.”
Odd Produce
Much of our foraged goods, including wild mushrooms, comes courtesy of Dave Odd of Odd Produce. Dave is a professional forager and provides hand-picked products for Chicago’s premier restaurants. He also offers foraging tours for Chicagoland, and has a plot called the “Land of Odd” in Kankakee, IL where he does foraging/survival weekends
Skuna Bay
Craft Raised salmon set in the beautiful river mouths in Vancouver, Skuna Bay leads the way in sustainable salmon farming. Their salmon is the very, very best Atlantic Salmon (Salmo Salar) we’ve ever seen, and their farming practices keep the product environmentally responsible and healthy for consumers.
Spence Farms
Marty Travis, of Spence Farm was delivering fresh produce to both Brad and Erik long before Carnivore was ever conceived of. Marty was supplying rare and heirloom produce to fine dining restaurant kitchens that they ran both separately and together. Marty made weekly Wednesday evening stops to deliver the best in sustainable produce, and some of our naturally raised meats for the first five years of Carnivore's operation. Marty had been using an older Ford E350 1 ton extended van. As the farm's deliveries grew Spence Farm purchased their first box truck to bring more orders each trip. Today, they run three delivery trucks each week.
Marty Travis is a 7th generation Illinois farmer. Will Travis, his son, manages this farm, the oldest family farm with the most number of generations that have worked the same land in the State of Illinois. Taking over the farm in the late 1990s Marty knew that the continuation of industrial mono-crop method that rotates feed corn and soybean plantings while adding large amounts of chemical fertilizer, is not good for the land. Marty and his family began true regenerative farming methods. They began growing rare varieties of vegetables – the heirloom varieties that taste great – even though the yield may be lower while they need more care – but without a market for their wondrous yield their farm wouldn't be sustainable.
Spence Farm began servicing select Chicago restaurants, as well as down state. Their reputation grew quickly, progressively more chefs were added to the weekly email list as the number of deliveries grew. The variety and quantity of specialty heirloom fruits and vegetables each chef estimated they would need for the coming growing season grew as well. In 2005 Marty and his wife, Kris founded Stewards of the Land – a loosely organized producer cooperative model comprised of local gardeners and farmers – to work together to find ways to supply the growing market. Each spring the group gets together for an in-person meeting with a list of specialty produce that has been requested. Each family decides on which items and how much of them can be produced weekly. For example, a chef says they'll need 10 pounds of the Basque region slow growing flavorful low yield Espelette peppers, two or three small farmers may share the growing. Each Tuesday the growers dropped their harvest at Spence Farm to be sorted into individual restaurant orders.
Marty Travis, and usually his son Will, would deliver to Carnivore as the last stop of their day. Often we'd make sure they had fresh coffee, a snack or sandwich, and some good conversation. It was on one of those evenings that Marty confided that Spence Farm would no longer be delivering Doug and Beth Rinkenberger's Garden Gate Farm delivery of pasture raised turkeys.
I was concerned whether we could continue using Garden Gate Farm's turkeys and heirloom produce we queried Marty. With a smile Marty leaned toward me and stated, “If you want something to grow you need to make sure it gets everything it needs and then you need to set it free to grow on its own.” Marty wasn't breaking ties with his neighbor, Marty was encouraging Doug and Beth – Garden Gate Farm – to grow using the same network set up, the Stewards of the Land. All the while arranging some of the Spence Farms clients could now being serviced by Doug and Beth.
Marty Travis continues the Spence Farm mission of sustainable agriculture and collaborative business models, supplying some of the finest restaurants. He has developed some of the closest relationships seen, built on over two decades continued service. Today Down at the Farms, LLC is the next iteration of collaborative farming and distribution has more than 100 small farmers supplying Chicago and Downstate restaurants. Spence Farm – Marty Travis – also acts as a consultant for farmers looking to begin sustainable and heirloom farming, continuing to carry the message through teaching.
Marty Spence continues his dual commitment both to sustainable agriculture and cooperative community focused business. His deep belief has been found true, that if he and other central Illinois families grow the best harvests possible, the market will support their efforts. Even though we no longer see Marty and Will each week, Carnivore Oak Park continues to support Marty's efforts. Today the weekly deliveries from Doug Rinkenberger supply us with Stewards of the Land produce, meat and dairy. Doug has become a valued friend to our staff, but that doesn't mean we don't miss the occasional evening break with Marty Travis.
Marty Travis's long service to our restaurant and retail community as well as his straight forward and honest communication allowing for deep conversations that allow us to find mutual points of agreement. Finding common cause in our deeply held beliefs, makes Spence Farms one of our closest neighbors – 100 miles south of Chicago.
Dark Matter Coffee
Owned by Oak Parkers and with locations all over the city, Dark Matter roasts the most unique coffee in Chicagoland. We have several of their whole bean varieties in 12oz bags all the time, and we offer their concentrated, canned iced coffee in our refrigerated case to enjoy over ice.
Opportunity Knocks
Opportunity Knocks is dedicated to enriching life and community. They exist to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities as they live, work, learn, grow and connect within their community. And Oh man, their pickles are good. Find them in our refrigerated case
Klug Farm
Farm fresh produce from St Joseph MI, we have farmers market quality produce from Klug farm when the season is right.
Rushing Waters Fisheries
Located in the beautiful Kettle Morraine area of southern Wisconsin, Rushing Waters has been producing sustainable rainbow trout for decades. A completely sealed and sustainable, outdoor pond system naturally rears amazing trout. Call us a day ahead for best availability
Riverence Steelhead
A new product for us, available usually on a day’s notice - Riverence is a sustainable steelhead farm in Washington state. Pushing the boundaries of trout farming, this sustainable farm produces a few different Rainbow Trout/Steelhead (Oncorhyncus Mykiss) products, all of which are amazing.
Copper Shoals Redfish Farm
Pristine redfish from Texas, this protected species is sustainably raised in inland, seawater ponds and represents the future of commercial fish in the United States. Antibiotic and hormone free, with a day’s notice this premium fish arrives still in rigormortis. So fresh it’s barely even dead.