Chris Eley, chef and co-owner of Goose the Market in Indianapolis. A young chef with a real love of butchering and charcuterie. Chris is also great with supporting local producers of pork, beef, lamb, poultry, etc.
Chef Champe Speidel of Persimmon in RI is set to open in the fall Persimmon Provisions, an artisan butcher shop in Barrington. http://www.persimmonbristol.com/
Revival Meats in Texas raises heritage pigs (like Magnalitsa) and cattle. I know Morgan provides cuts to some businesses and individuals and Houston, and does some of his own curing, but I don't know if he considers himself a butcher... http://revivalmeats.com/
Let's not forget the great pro butchers who have been cutting meat for twenty, thirty, or forty years -- Ray Venezia of Fairway, Frank Ottomanelli, and my friend Pat LaFrieda. Both Pat and Ray are third generation butchers, and Frank a second-generation butcher.
What makes a meat cutter an Artisan Butcher? For me, it's skill, scale and intent.
Skillful labor- working by hand with hand tools (sorry, no buzz saws!). Scale-a one-at-a-time, one man/one beast approach. (Is 700+ hams a week artisanal?)
Intent- this is where craft serves creativity and manual skill becomes masterful.
Artisan butchers know their animals, the meat they cut and the food it becomes.
Living in cattle country you would think that I would be tripping over buthchers. Sadly that is not the case. I was thrilled when my favorite bistro opened a boucherie. La Boucherie in Oklahoma City is great. This was started by Brothers Alain & Michel Buthion originally just to service their Restaurant, La Baguette Bistro and have since opened up to provide their services to both restaurants and the public. I can get almost anything I could possibly want from Bison to Duck in whatever cut I like. And if they don't have something I am looking for, a quick word to their butcher Dave usually insures I will have it on my next visit.
Re: what defines an artisan butcher? Technically, or at least hopefully, all professional butchers are artisans - it's a skilled manual labor, and pretty obvious when the guy with the knife isn't skilled. That said, butchering is such an old practice, but the butchers that you're talking about are the ones whose skills go beyond just preparing a clean cut of meat.
Donald Link and Stephen Stryjewski's Cochon Butcher in New Orleans embodies this distinction. They go above and beyond traditional butchering, and their effort and passion are apparent in products so impeccable, so diverse, so extravagantly delicious as to make you wonder if they're even butchers or if they're Willy Wonkas of the carnivorous variety. Everything they sell, from the fresh cuts to the salumi, is made in house. They also offer one of the best lunches in New Orleans in the form of $10 sandwiches and cheaper "bar food," all of which spotlight the stellar meats they're constantly turning out.
They've filled a niche in New Orleans that previously was not occupied. Since opening, they've made artisan butchering a part of NOLA's dining culture, spoiling us with their top-notch technique and infallibly tasty offerings. Bottom line, they don't cut corners, and it shows.
Rain Shadow Meats in Seattle http://rainshadowmeats.com/
Russ is incredibly passionate and helpful. He sells a ton of house charcuterie and local pork, duck, rabbit, chicken, beef... everything.
They work with local farms to butcher and sell the meat you purchase through meat CSAs and direct from Sonoma farms. They also sell a variety of local and exotic meats. Amazing place.
If anyone is interested their is a great thread on goodeater.org on women butchers. A post by Jacqueline Church called "In Heels and Backwards" http://tinyurl.com/335bkdl
As with livestock farmers and ranchers, one key difference between a technically skilled butcher or meat cutter and one who is artisan is the mindset of the individual.
Not only will she/he know the specific source of each carcass, be able to judge how to age each individual carcass and for how long (for beef, at least), and be adept at cutting and trimming individual steaks, roasts, chops, burgers, etc. quickly, efficiently, and attractively... she/he will also consider herself to be making fabulous tasting food, not cutting meat.
The ideal butcher would also have experience on a slaughter line, where artisan practices are just as critical to the end product (not to mention welfare of the livestock and workers). Heck, if they have experience raising livestock, too, for meat, then you're getting close to batting 1000.
This fall, one of the publishers I work with, Welcome Books, will be publishing PRIMAL CUTS: Cooking with America's Best Butchers, by Marissa Guggiani. It includes features on 50 artisan butchers, recipes, etc. http://welcomebooks.com/primalcuts/index.html
Some friends of mine are opening up an all-local/organic/etc butcher shop in LA next year! They both trained at Fleisher’s, this is going to be a great place:
An artisan is simply one who practices a trade or handicraft. I like this explanation from a 1913 Websters: "An artist is one who is skilled in some one of the fine arts; an artisan is one who exercises any mechanical employment. A portrait painter is an artist; a sign painter is an artisan, although he may have the taste and skill of an artist. The occupation of the former requires a fine taste and delicate manipulation; that of the latter demands only an ordinary degree of contrivance and imitative power."
Basically, almost any butcher who doesn't deal in mass production could be considered to be an artisan. "Artisan" and "artisanal" are certainly useful terms. But they're overused and now have connotations well beyond their definitions, especially among the foodie community.
So, with regard to your Twitter question of what defines an "artisan butcher", I'm not really sure. Maybe we should look for small-scale butchers who hold employ whatever methods and standards of production we deem desirable.
I'm not US-based at present and don't know any such butchers. But don't discount the small farms who butcher and sell the animals they raise themselves. I can highly recommend Prairie Pride Farm, a small family farm in Minnesota - http://www.prairiepridepork.com/ They have a wide range of products and their leaf lard is superb!
I'm assuming you already know about Fleisher's here in the Hudson Valley.
http://www.fleishers.com/
lol, I just tweeted the same thing. Gotta love Fleisher's
That's where that book "cleaving" was born so to speak.
Michael, doesn't it say something that somehow everything seems to always get tied back to the Hudson Valley....?
And Mark Elia from Elia's Meat Market in Highland, NY.
Chris Eley, chef and co-owner of Goose the Market in Indianapolis. A young chef with a real love of butchering and charcuterie. Chris is also great with supporting local producers of pork, beef, lamb, poultry, etc.
http://www.goosethemarket.com/
Taylor Boetticher from Fatted Calf in Napa hands down. That man is a true craftsman.
Vadim Akimenko is working on opening up a shop in Cambridge, Mass. http://akimenkomeats.com/
Chef Champe Speidel of Persimmon in RI is set to open in the fall Persimmon Provisions, an artisan butcher shop in Barrington. http://www.persimmonbristol.com/
4505 Meats in San Fran! Ryan makes awesome stuff (including hot dogs and sausages with bacon inside!) (@Chicharrones on Twitter)
Cheers!
Revival Meats in Texas raises heritage pigs (like Magnalitsa) and cattle. I know Morgan provides cuts to some businesses and individuals and Houston, and does some of his own curing, but I don't know if he considers himself a butcher... http://revivalmeats.com/
Let's not forget the great pro butchers who have been cutting meat for twenty, thirty, or forty years -- Ray Venezia of Fairway, Frank Ottomanelli, and my friend Pat LaFrieda. Both Pat and Ray are third generation butchers, and Frank a second-generation butcher.
What makes a meat cutter an Artisan Butcher? For me, it's skill, scale and intent.
Skillful labor- working by hand with hand tools (sorry, no buzz saws!). Scale-a one-at-a-time, one man/one beast approach. (Is 700+ hams a week artisanal?)
Intent- this is where craft serves creativity and manual skill becomes masterful.
Artisan butchers know their animals, the meat they cut and the food it becomes.
In Brooklyn, NY there's The Meat Hook - http://www.the-meathook.com/
Sustainable butchers working hand in hand with upstate NY farmers.
The team at Swiss kills and cuts up pigs the way these guys do.
Here's a tutorial on what they do. Here's videos by the guy who taught them showing what they do.
Living in cattle country you would think that I would be tripping over buthchers. Sadly that is not the case. I was thrilled when my favorite bistro opened a boucherie. La Boucherie in Oklahoma City is great. This was started by Brothers Alain & Michel Buthion originally just to service their Restaurant, La Baguette Bistro and have since opened up to provide their services to both restaurants and the public. I can get almost anything I could possibly want from Bison to Duck in whatever cut I like. And if they don't have something I am looking for, a quick word to their butcher Dave usually insures I will have it on my next visit.
Ryan Hardy and team at the little nell in aspen. They butcher and cure the animals from his farm.
Re: what defines an artisan butcher? Technically, or at least hopefully, all professional butchers are artisans - it's a skilled manual labor, and pretty obvious when the guy with the knife isn't skilled. That said, butchering is such an old practice, but the butchers that you're talking about are the ones whose skills go beyond just preparing a clean cut of meat.
Donald Link and Stephen Stryjewski's Cochon Butcher in New Orleans embodies this distinction. They go above and beyond traditional butchering, and their effort and passion are apparent in products so impeccable, so diverse, so extravagantly delicious as to make you wonder if they're even butchers or if they're Willy Wonkas of the carnivorous variety. Everything they sell, from the fresh cuts to the salumi, is made in house. They also offer one of the best lunches in New Orleans in the form of $10 sandwiches and cheaper "bar food," all of which spotlight the stellar meats they're constantly turning out.
They've filled a niche in New Orleans that previously was not occupied. Since opening, they've made artisan butchering a part of NOLA's dining culture, spoiling us with their top-notch technique and infallibly tasty offerings. Bottom line, they don't cut corners, and it shows.
Rain Shadow Meats in Seattle http://rainshadowmeats.com/
Russ is incredibly passionate and helpful. He sells a ton of house charcuterie and local pork, duck, rabbit, chicken, beef... everything.
Also tweeted this -- the Bay Area has some remarkable artisan butchers. Our favorites:
Bud's Custom Meats, Penngrove, CA: http://www.yelp.com/biz/buds-custom-meats-penngrove-2
They work with local farms to butcher and sell the meat you purchase through meat CSAs and direct from Sonoma farms. They also sell a variety of local and exotic meats. Amazing place.
Drewes Bros. http://www.drewesbros.com/
Tattooed, pierced, and all about meat. These guys really do know what they're doing.
Avedano's http://www.avedanos.com/
One of the few women-owned butcher shops. Very high quality meat. They hold classes in butchery for the general public. Really nice folks.
Tails and Trotters: http://www.tailsandtrotters.com/
Olympic Provisions: http://www.olympicprovisions.com/
Laurelhurst Market: http://laurelhurstmarket.com/
All in the Portland, Oregon area
If anyone is interested their is a great thread on goodeater.org on women butchers. A post by Jacqueline Church called "In Heels and Backwards" http://tinyurl.com/335bkdl
As with livestock farmers and ranchers, one key difference between a technically skilled butcher or meat cutter and one who is artisan is the mindset of the individual.
Not only will she/he know the specific source of each carcass, be able to judge how to age each individual carcass and for how long (for beef, at least), and be adept at cutting and trimming individual steaks, roasts, chops, burgers, etc. quickly, efficiently, and attractively... she/he will also consider herself to be making fabulous tasting food, not cutting meat.
The ideal butcher would also have experience on a slaughter line, where artisan practices are just as critical to the end product (not to mention welfare of the livestock and workers). Heck, if they have experience raising livestock, too, for meat, then you're getting close to batting 1000.
Ryan Farr and 4505 Meats!!! These guys have skills, I have never tasted sausage and cured meats better in my life and I grew up in Europe.
This fall, one of the publishers I work with, Welcome Books, will be publishing PRIMAL CUTS: Cooking with America's Best Butchers, by Marissa Guggiani. It includes features on 50 artisan butchers, recipes, etc. http://welcomebooks.com/primalcuts/index.html
thanks for all the suggestions! i need to do a post on what is artisan butchery.
Some friends of mine are opening up an all-local/organic/etc butcher shop in LA next year! They both trained at Fleisher’s, this is going to be a great place:
http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/butchers/lindy-and-grundys-meats-butche/
Sadly Harry's no longer with us.
http://www.philly.com/philly/restaurants/79433172.html
Ted's Butcherblock in downtown Charleston, SC, is my local artisan butcher: http://www.tedsbutcherblock.com/
An artisan is simply one who practices a trade or handicraft. I like this explanation from a 1913 Websters: "An artist is one who is skilled in some one of the fine arts; an artisan is one who exercises any mechanical employment. A portrait painter is an artist; a sign painter is an artisan, although he may have the taste and skill of an artist. The occupation of the former requires a fine taste and delicate manipulation; that of the latter demands only an ordinary degree of contrivance and imitative power."
Basically, almost any butcher who doesn't deal in mass production could be considered to be an artisan. "Artisan" and "artisanal" are certainly useful terms. But they're overused and now have connotations well beyond their definitions, especially among the foodie community.
So, with regard to your Twitter question of what defines an "artisan butcher", I'm not really sure. Maybe we should look for small-scale butchers who hold employ whatever methods and standards of production we deem desirable.
I'm not US-based at present and don't know any such butchers. But don't discount the small farms who butcher and sell the animals they raise themselves. I can highly recommend Prairie Pride Farm, a small family farm in Minnesota - http://www.prairiepridepork.com/ They have a wide range of products and their leaf lard is superb!