Sarasota Dutch Valley Restaurant Receives National Honors

SARASOTA, FL -- A Sarasota restaurateur wasn't chicken about trying a patented process for making moist, crisp fried chicken four years ago. And now the popular menu item has earned him national honors.

Fernando Piney, owner of the Sarasota Dutch Valley Restaurant, 6721 S. Tamiami Trail, received the Broaster Company’s prestigious Golden Chicken Award during a ceremony this week.

Jay Cipra, president and CEO of the Broaster Co. based in Beloit, Wisconsin, flew to Sarasota to personally present a plaque to Piney recognizing the eatery's achievement. Only a select handful of restaurants receive the Golden Chicken Award each year.

The Sarasota restaurant was honored for providing the highest quality Genuine Broaster Chicken® while giving customers an excellent dining experience.

The Dutch Valley Restaurant, located one mile east of Siesta Key, has been a mainstay in the community since 1972. It offers down-home cooking at reasonable prices including Broasted Chicken by the bucket or as a entree with sweet potato fried, pot roast, country-fried steak and homemade mac and cheese.

Four years ago,, Piney added Genuine Broaster Chicken to his menu, and the dish was an instant hit with diners. Dutch Valley went from serving one case of chicken per week to now selling three to four cases of fresh Broaster Chicken per day, equating to roughly 58,000 pounds of chicken each year.

Broaster Co. has offered restaurants around the country its license-branded program using Broaster Pressure Fryers for more than 60 years. Genuine Broaster Chicken is prepared with the freshest available chicken, proprietary ingredients and a distinctive cooking process. Pressure fried in a patented Broaster® Pressure Fryer, the end result is a tender and moist chicken that’s extra crispy.

“Dutch Valley has truly embraced the Broasted Chicken experience,” said Cipra. “Their increase in chicken sales is not only impressive, but also shows the love that Sarasota residents have for our chicken. Stories like this make us proud to provide our operators a world-class product that people seek out to enjoy.”

Piney started out with just one Broaster Pressure Fryer and, after 30 days, purchased a second fryer. Three months later, he was forced to purchase a third fryer to meet his customers' demand for the fried chicken.

“Over the past four years we have generated loyal customers that come back time and time again specifically to experience the taste of Genuine Broaster Chicken—making it a staple item on our menu,” said Piney.

The award from Broaster Co. is testament to his customers' love for the menu item.

“Receiving the Golden Chicken Award is very humbling and will give customers a reason to stop in for a high-quality Broasted Chicken experience," he said.

Broaster Pressure Fryers cook food in a fraction of the time of open fryers, making chicken less greasy and crispier than traditional fryers.

Images via Dutch Valley

From left are Dutch Valley manager Denise Piney, owner Fernando Piney and Denise Piney's son, Gabriel Perez.

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