animals per acre, as many pounds per acre,
because they look at the utilization of the
land,” he says. “The difference between this
operation and a feed lot is the space. My cat-
tle have a lot of space, they have a barn they
can go in and out of, they have trees, they
have several places where they can eat.”
Welch started farming in Stonington back
in 2008 with just five animals, but the prop-
erty had already been a farm for 200 years.
Now he has more than ninety cattle, includ-
ing fifty breeding cows, twenty-five steers,
two bulls and the rest are calves, with more
on the way. The female cows remain on the
farm for up to ten years where they live an
idyllic life feeding on pasture, birthing up
to nine calves each. Male calves become
steers and it takes about two years for them
to work up to their final purpose on the farm.
Welch clearly loves his animals as he finds
joy in their every move, and he’s fascinated
by the bond between mother and calf. But
there’s a reason for the farm: to harvest beef.
“We’re attached to all of them, but if you want
an operation that works, our animals have
really nice lives, and then they have one day
at the end that’s not so good,” Welch says.
And if you eat beef, Graze Burgers is the
74 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l
APRIL 2020
place to do it. The burgers are terrific with
a soft pink center and a rich flavor like a good
steak. The entire animal is used to create the
burgers, “including the prime cuts like ten-
derloin, sirloin, ribeye, everything’s going
into it,” Welch says.
Graze chef Dave Parr trained at the Culi-
nary Institute of America and worked at
Skipjack’s and Legal Sea Foods before land-
ing at Bridge and taking the helm at Graze.
He’s helped develop the recipes for the
french fries fried in beef tallow, and all it
takes to season the beef is a little salt and
pepper and a nice sear on the flattop. “The
idea behind this came out of the opportu-
nity that was presented by Josh who was
raising grass-fed beef. First, we made the
decision at Bridge to switch all of our burg-
ers to grass-fed beef because I thought it
tasted better and made more sense,” he says.
“It was the best thing to put on the menu
for our guests.”
Graze restaurant — ironically located next
to its complete opposite, a McDonald’s —
opened in October of 2018 with a simple
concept at a reasonable price point (a single
burger starts at $6.95). The restaurant,
designed by Libby Slader with benches
The fries at Graze are cooked in beef tallow.
created by local artisan Eric Thavenet, is
similar to Shake Shack, except you can see
where your meal came from, right down the
street, and you can trust that the meat was
sustainably and humanely raised. Right now,
Welch’s farm can supply enough beef for
Graze, but if he needs to supplement, he has
connections to grass-fed beef farms in Maine
and Vermont that he has visited to vouch
for the protein. >>