The Butcher & Grocer — a new locally-sourced butcher shop set to open this summer in Grandview Heights — has partnered with specialty charcuterie venture Hungarian Butcher.
Hungarian Butcher is spearheaded by partners Dan Varga and James Anderson. Anderson owns popular barbecue food truck Ray Ray’s Hog Pit, along with Anderson Farms in Granville. Varga has 20 years of chef experience under his belt, his last project opening Downtown Southern eatery Double Comfort.
The duo joined forces with The Butcher & Grocer partners Tim Struble and Tony Tanner, uniting over a shared passion for the importance of locally raised meat.
“It’s not good enough to say you’re local anymore… that’s just a word people use, so we want to bring meaning to it,” said Struble. “You’re going to know who your farmers are. They’ll be right on your receipt. That’s the difference maker, we think — if you care about what’s going into your body, you should know what local means.”
Struble has been in the meat business, butchering for over a decade, working a seven-year stint at Weiland’s Market and four years at Bluescreek Farm Meats.
“My dad’s a vegetarian. He told me when I was really young, ‘If you’re going to eat meat, you should know where it comes from – be able to produce it and use the whole animal.’ I took that to heart,” said Struble. “That’s what the Butcher & Grocer is all about: not using any boxes or bags of meat, ever.”
The standards farms must meet for The Butcher & Grocer to carry their product are deservedly high: animals must be hard to find, rotating around on the farm, with a fresh supply of water and grass. Most of the Hungarian Butcher’s pork is coming directly from Anderson Farms, where pigs are raised to fine-tune their flavor profile for specific charcuterie. As of now, six additional farms have been confirmed for sourcing.
“Every one of these guys is so passionate about growing these animals the right way that it makes you want to go out and be a farmer,” said Tanner. “We had to chase the pigs around five acres just to get pictures for the website. It’s hard, but it’s super cool.”
The Butcher and Grocer’s store spans 1,700 square feet, with about two-thirds of the space dedicated to walk-in freezers, a sausage station, and other production facilities. The remainder will comprise the store. A large open window will be constructed facing into the space, allowing customers to interact with butchers and hand-select their chosen cuts of meat.
“We have all this passion and love for what we do, and because of that and the farmers, this stuff tastes amazing,” said Struble. “Dan’s had some of the best charcuterie I’ve ever had in my life, and the meat our farmers make, it’s incomparable.”
In addition to meat, The Butcher and Grocer will sell fare you’d typically find on a charcuterie board: mustards, pickles, bread from Dan the Baker, jams and jellies from Black Radish Creamery, and more. Local cheese selections include offerings from Little Valley, Canal Junction, and Osage Creamery, among others. The store will in part fill a specialty grocery store void left in the wake of Rife’s Market, which shut its doors in 2014.
The store will also host meet the farmer days on Saturday, where farmers will be available to speak with the community about how they raise their animals. The Butcher & Grocer additionally intends on eventually hosting small butchering classes.
No set opening date has been determined, but early summer is the group’s tentative goal.
For more information, visit www.thebutcherandgrocer.com.
