The go-to meat guys
How did small butcher shops survive the supermarket offensive?
MEAT consumption is soaring to record levels – even though 12% of Americans ages 18 to 49 are partially vegan or vegetarian, according to a 2016 Pew Research Poll. This year, the US Department of Agriculture is expecting each American to consume a record amount of red meat and poultry – an average of 100kg per person. That’s 9kg more meat per person, per year, than in 2014.
Another change: where Americans are buying their meat. While many still drop into the nearest Publix or Walmart to snag their burgers and hot dogs, an increasing number of eaters are going old school by shopping at carnicerias and specialty butcher shops.
Many specialty meat markets have carved out a niche by offering personalised customer service and products that aren’t widely available. New shops are opening as well, spurred by a younger, more health-conscious generation seeking meats sans antibiotics and hormones.
“Two-thirds of consumers say clean eating is a path to better eating,” said Darren Seifer, a food-and-beverage analyst at the consumer market research firm NPD Group. “That means that ‘I want to know what happened to this livestock before it hits the shelf.’ By going to the local butcher, consumers have a tighter connection to the supply chain than at larger stores.”
Danny Johnson agrees. “There’s kind of a renaissance right now as people look into where their food comes from and how they’re raised,” said Johnson, co-owner of Taylor’s Market in Sacramento and member of The Butchers Guild, a national butchers trade organisation. “Earlier it was about convenience, but now it has come full circle.”
Old guard
Many of Miami’s traditional butcher shops and carnicerias came with immigrants starting new lives in the United States.
Laurenzo’s Italian Market, located in North Miami Beach, was established in 1951 by second-generation Italian-Americans Ben Laurenzo and his brother Achilles. After Ben passed in January, his son, David, took on the operation while his son Robert mans the butcher shop and daughter Carol runs the office.
The ambiance of Old Italy permeates the store. Big band music rings through the aisles stocked with wines and pasta. Half the store is lined with meat displays: sliced deli cuts, mussels and fish, aged sirloin steaks and lamb chops and pork tenderloins, all sourced in the United States. Homemade Italian sausages, New York strips and rib-eye steaks sell best in the market. Like many other butcher shops, it also has a cafe. Baked ziti, lasagna, veal and peppers and other traditional Italian dishes are served up to order or buffet style.
David credits Laurenzo’s longevity to personalised, intimate service. Spend any time in the store and you’ll find several generations of the same family shopping there – grandparent, parent, child.
Charlie Rosenberg and his family have been going to Laurenzo’s since the 1980s.
“They just have stuff you can’t find anywhere else,” said Rosenberg, citing the lump crab meat and genuine Italian sausages.
Graziano’s Market began as a small butcher shop in Buenos Aires owned by husband and wife Mario and Maria Graziano. In 1989, the two opened up the first of Graziano’s five stores. The company, which also boasts four full-service restaurants, sources its meat from certified Angus farms in the US.
“There are less butcher shops now than before,” said Leo Graziano, co-owner. “Other big chains have swallowed the little ones.” But like Laurenzo’s, the Grazianos say their connection with customers and unique inventory are big pluses.
“People can come in and our butchers will walk them through the best cuts and practices for whatever they want to barbecue,” said Cecilia Graziano, Leo’s sister, who handles public relations. “Argentinians love the flank steak. Cubans prefer the skirt steak for churrasco.”
When Javier Guerrero moved from Colombia to Miami, he stayed true to his profession. Shortly after moving here, he opened Carniceria Los Paisas & Deli Market in Kendale Lakes in 2007.
His shop is tucked inside a strip mall, near a barber shop, dry cleaner and an El Rinconcito Latino restaurant.
“Our business strategy is simple,” said Jonny Guerrero, Javier’s son and one of three butchers at the carniceria. “We sell fresh, high-quality meat – big supermarkets buy in bulk, not in quality – and we provide personalised service to our customers. We’re also open seven days a week, because my dad says if you’re not going to work, then you should retire.”
Along with fresh meat, fish and home-made chorizos, the shop stocks desserts, cakes, seasonings, condiments and cookware that are favourites with their Colombian clientele.
The new wave
Freddy and Danielle Kaufmann, co-owners of Proper Sausages, have been in the meat business for only five years. They are part of a new generation of butchers catering to a health-conscious generation – the four in 10 Americans who favour organic and non-GMO foods.
“Who are our customers?” said Freddy Kaufmann. “They’re people who care about everything except price – taste, sourcing and healthiness.
“There’s this weird culture in the US where you can’t enjoy good food to be healthy,” said Freddy. He blames food science, pointing to the years of studies and trends. In his view, food should be both healthy and delicious.
The Kaufmanns’ foray into the butcher industry began on the farmer’s market circuit, where the two would sell the homemade sausages they created in their off time. In 2013, they opened a small Miami Shores storefront and stocked it with craft beer and meat fed from pastures in Florida. The store also serves hot meals: the Wagyu beef burger, sausage and egg sandwich, and pulled pork sandwich sell well.
Along with sausages, the shop also serves breakfast and lunch and sells cuts of beef and pork: Wagyu filet mignon, St. Louis Ribs.
And naturally, the always-hip Wynwood has its own version of the contemporary butcher shop. It is called, appropriately, The Butcher Shop.
The spot is owned by father and son Igor and Fred Niznik, who run a butcher shop called Charlie’s Gourmet Meat Market in West Palm Beach.The Butcher Shop sells meat without antibiotics, growth hormones or nitrates from certified Angus farms. The meat counter is tucked in the back, past the outdoor beer garden and full bar inside. A massive pink cow sculpture keeps watch over the front entrance.
The butcher counter supplies the food served in the restaurant, which features American staples like burgers and wings along with gourmet sandwiches like its fruit wood-smoked pork and brisket with mustard BBQ sauce, Pepper Jack cheese and pickled red onion on a brioche bun. Until recently, customers could just pick out the cut of meat they wanted at the meat counter and chefs would cook it on the spot.
Kurt Ditzler, a manager at The Butcher Shop, said that their specialty burgers – apple bacon and gorgonzola and jalapeno and cheddar – are their best sellers at the meat counter. – Miami Herald/ Tribune News Service