José Andrés adding lab-grown chicken to D.C. menu around July 31

Lab-grown chicken will be available to D.C. diners for the first time ever starting the week of July 31 at José Andrés’ China Chilcano restaurant.

Why it matters: Human-made meat from two California companies — Good Meat and Upside Foods — was given federal approval in June, and Andrés is one of two U.S. chefs to serve it.

What’s happening: Andrés partnered with Good Meat for the alternative protein. His dish: charcoal-grilled cultivated chicken skewers with potatoes and ají amarillo chimichurri.

• The Peruvian-style skewers will be available by reservation only, in limited quantities.
• Reservations go live on China Chilcano’s site on July 25.
• Prices are TBA.

How it works: Unlike a plant-based product like Impossible Meat, which mimics animal protein, Good Meat is grown from live animal cells.

• The company says it “painlessly” extracts “the best cells” from cows, chickens, and eggs. The cells multiply in a cultivator — similar to a beer tank — fed by a broth of nutrients that parallel an animal’s diet. The meaty cell formations are ready for consumption in four-to-six weeks and are molded into a final product.
• Good Meat says no hormones, GMOS, or antibiotics are involved in producing the chicken.

Zoom in: The company is the first in the world to sell cultivated protein, which was previously approved in Singapore.

• Besides Andrés, who joined Good Meat’s board of directors in 2021, the other chef pioneering lab-grown meat is San Francisco-based Dominique Crenn, who began serving Upside’s chicken over the weekend.

What they’re saying: “The big day is here, the chicken is here, and people are going to be talking,” says Andrés, who just did a test run of the cultivated chicken at China Chilcano. “This is a first for the history of humanity.”

Editor's note: This is a developing story and may be updated.