Hungry for Some Exotic Fare? It’s on the Menu in San Francisco

If Gerald Prolman wanted to, he could dine every night on such unusual fare as antelope, buffalo and rattlesnake.

Prolman is president of Night Bird Game & Poultry Co., which supplies exotic game birds and animals to restaurant chefs across the country.

“We reintroduced game to restaurants in this country,” said Prolman, who started the firm when he was 19 years old.

“When we started this company in 1979, few restaurants offered it, and suppliers were impossible to find,” he said.

Extensive Selection

The company now fills orders for menus that include quail, partridge, duck, peacock, deer, antelope, elk, bear, buffalo and mountain sheep, among others.

Prolman got the idea when he worked at Cafe Mozart here.

“The chef was German and wanted a ‘classic’ menu, which meant one game bird and one game animal to be offered per day,” he said.

Prolman went to farms raising quail and rabbit, or to others that supplied birds for gun clubs.

“Chefs from other restaurants began eating at Cafe Mozart,” he said. “I realized no one was selling these things.”

‘Really Took Off’

After 18 months, his business “really took off.”

Prolman gets his supply from ranchers throughout the West who have controlled animal populations.

“I also buy some game from New Zealand,” he said. “All is inspected and approved. I work very closely with the (state Department of Fish and Game).

Some of San Francisco’s finest restaurants, including Ernie’s and The Big Four, offer dishes from game supplied by Night Bird.

The Big Four lists roast saddle of antelope, Scottish hare with meadow mushrooms, filet of buffalo and rabbit with baby artichokes.

Good Response

“People have really responded,” said Gloria Cicarrone, chef at the Big Four. “Two years ago, they might not have tried these things, maybe only quail and sometimes venison.”

Actually, Night Bird does not offer much that is terribly exotic, Prolman said.

“We have rattlesnake, but that’s a Texas tradition. Things like iguana eaten in Central America won’t fly here.”

Prolman said he will not get involved in possums or raccoons, but did have Swedish beaver as a special one week.

The company’s most popular item is buffalo.

“We’re doing 50 head a week in prime cuts,” Prolman said.