Farm-to-table is the ultimate goal for quality restaurants and Alan Laird of AJ’s restaurants and AJ’s Rockin’-L Specialty Meats and Gourmet Market knows the reason; fresh food just tastes better.
“People talk farm-to-table; now this is my farm to your table. We produce what you want,” Alan said. “It’s pretty exciting to be able to walk into one of my restaurants and see my own products on the plates.”
Alan said that what started out as a hobby on his land in Florala, turned into a full-scale cattle ranch, honey and produce farm over the past few years. The Rockin' L, short for Rocking Laird, has now become the new focus of his business.
“I bought the ranch in 2015 and I had about 18 cows on it, but they were just pets. Then, when I married Heather, she’s from Kansas and they're a big farm country so we decided to make it part of our life. We started raising cattle and now we have approximately 200 heads of cattle.”
On their 300-acre Alabama ranch, the Lairds raise Wagyu, Black Angus and registered Black Hereford. In addition to the cattle, the Lairds have about 100 beehives for producing local honey. On the produce side, the couple has cultivated more than 750 tomato plants, squash, zucchini, and a plethora of other vegetable staples.
“Everything we produce is free-range, organic, pesticide and herbicide free,” said Alan. “We recycle and reuse everything we can because we are trying to build a self-reliable farm. That is important for me about what we are bringing to the area, self-sustainable farms.”
At this point, Alan said his ranch is supplying about 60-70 percent of the meat and produce to his market and three restaurants, and the rest he sources from other local farmers. In the future, he hopes to close that gap, but Laird said for now the thrill of bringing his business full circle from ground to plate is enough.
“There is enough meat and produce from the ranch to supply the market and plenty left over for the three restaurants,” Alan said. “We pick produce, we pull honey, and we deliver the animals; It’s just become a beautiful thing.”
After opening AJ’s Rockin’ L Specialty Meats and Gourmet Market about six months ago, Alan said the feedback on both his produce and his beef has been all positive.
“We get the most compliments on our meats and our hamburgers are praised heavenly and high,” he said. “I’ve been in the area with my restaurants for 39 years, and I’m proud of where we’re at. It’s exciting to offer farm-to-table, and you know it’s always fresh.”
Alan said that he recently had a customer come into AJ’s Rockin’-L Meats and Gourmet Market looking for some fresh beef. A few days later the customer came back with his wife who then revealed that she had been vegan for 10 years due to the way her body reacts to most store-bought meats. She said that after some coaxing from her husband, she tried a bite of his hamburger, and immediately wanted more.
“I just thought it was pretty amazing that she was willing to try it,” Alan said. “Her husband said he would buy the whole store out just to be able to have meat with his wife. She said she tasted the freshness and the quality, and now they can enjoy this meal together.”
In addition to fresh-cut beef products, honey and produce, AJ’s Rockin-L also carries Boar’s Head meats and cheeses, house-made cakes and pies and to-go style holiday meals complete with sides.
“The market is a vehicle that if we want to bring in something special, we can try it here and really offer something different to the Destin area,” Alan said. “At the market, we produce big holiday meals and of course, carry some signature side dishes straight off of the AJ’s menu.”
Ranch life has been a welcome change of pace, Alan said. Something he is glad he found, especially during the pandemic years, and something he plans to continue to pursue and grow.
"I have a little bit of a different lifestyle now that helps both my personal well-being and my business,” Alan said. “The pandemic shut our meat market plans down for about two years, but we are finally catching back up and getting excited about it. It’s such a natural fit and truly raises the quality of the food we serve in the restaurants and what we have to offer to the Destin area.”
“People talk farm-to-table; now this is my farm to your table. We produce what you want. It’s pretty exciting to be able to walk into one of my restaurants and see my own products on the plates.”