The question of whether it came before the chicken may never be settled, but for the moment, at least one thing is clear: The egg is on top—of pizzas, salads, and many chefs’ lists of favorite ingredients. “Eggs,” says Toponia Miller, co-owner of the Fatted Calf, “are hot.” And no eggs are hotter than those sold by Soul Food Farm in Vacaville. That’s where Alexis Koefoed manages her flock of seven breeds of Heritage chickens, a total of 1,100 hens that lay eggs of unusual richness and flavor. Says Cal Peternell, chef at Chez Panisse Café, “It’s hard to describe, but there’s a subtle herbal flavor to her eggs.” That’s not surprising, considering the hens’ diet, which includes grass and grains, as well as bugs and anything else they find as they roam 20 certified-organic acres of pasture. Production varies with the weather—hens aren’t as prolific when it gets too hot or too cold—but during a good week, the flock produces between 300 and 500 dozen eggs, every one of them claimed before it leaves the farm. Currently, just six Bay Area restaurants serve Soul Food Farm eggs, including Lalime’s, where they’re paired with shrimp on an open-faced sandwich, and Chez Panisse Café, where, Peternell says, they make “the most extraordinary pasta.” At Eccolo, the eggs are poached and served with asparagus, and at Coi, chef-owner Daniel Patterson slow-cooks the eggs and serves them with chard, wheatberries, and brown-butter parmesan. The rest of us can get them from the Fatted Calf, Avedanos, the meat counter at Café Rouge, the Prather Ranch Meat Co., or the Bay Area Meat CSA. Take note: The farm makes its San Francisco deliveries on Thursdays, so if you want some of its eggs to call your own, hustle over to the store by Friday morning. Each market gets just 24 to 36 dozen eggs each week, and they sell out within a day or two. Lest chickens feel short-changed, Koefoed sells them as well—and, like their eggs, Soul Food Farm chickens have earned local chefs’ attention. “I think they have more depth of flavor than factory-raised birds,” says Patterson, who serves them in the lounge at Coi. “They have more flavor, period.” The texture is also different from that of commercial chicken. Because the birds walk around all day, rather than sitting on their nests growing flabby, their meat is firmer than most people expect. “I like it,” says Patterson. “Some people like mushy chicken better. I don’t.”