Please read on.  You’ll realize you’re much more a part of this than you ever thought.  Because, frankly, the most important part of all of this is the customer.  Which is just the way we like it.

What is the Meat Hook, exactly?

Well, we’re a lot of things but, at our core, we are now what we were the day we opened the shop doors for the first time: three best friends jumping into the void and trying to figure out not what a butcher shop was but what a butcher shop could be.

What we came up with was the idea that a butcher shop could sell local, properly raised meat from small family farms but without all the piety of the farmers market and without all the preciousness of boutique restaurants who served that meat to the dining elite. Good meat, we decided, could be fun. Everyone, it seemed, had a fancy påte with a pedigree but we wondered if there wasn’t a bigger market for a hot dog you could feel good about feeding your kids? As it turns out we now make both fancy terrines and grass-fed hot dogs but the hot dogs outsell charcuterie twenty to one.

The Meat Hook is a pretty strange animal, even in the context of a city full of strange animals. It is a chimera that is equal parts NYC restaurant culture, psychedelic rock band and old-school butcher shop. Its structure is a democracy, a dictatorship and pure anarchy depending on the hour of the day and the only law is that whoever has the best idea at the time is in charge.

The Meat Hook Mission

The existential question of what we will do with our lives is a pretty hard one to answer. Luckily, through a series of happy accidents the three of us ended up with the unlikely solution of owning a butcher shop. While we weren’t exactly sure how we were going to pull off opening this shop we did know what we wanted it to be: fun, unpretentious, accessible and most importantly, financial sustainable.

As unromantic as that last bit sounds, without making money all the good feelings and high moral ideals in the world will not save you. At the Meat Hook we are really in the business of paying our farmers. To that end we strive each and every day to simply Do It Right. From farm visits to pick our animals for the next month’s slaughter to chatting up regulars at the counter; everything we do is for the purpose of properly representing our farmer’s hard work, deep knowledge and quality animals. We never forget that without them we’re just another bunch of jerks selling pork chops.

The Food Dollar Diagram

The best way to understand the difference between spending your money at our shop or the supermarket is to look at how much of every dollar you spend ends up in the hands of the farmer who raises your meat.

When you buy a family pack of steaks at your neighborhood chain store about 11 cents of each dollar you spend goes to the farmer. Where does the rest go? Multi-national corporations, out-of-state distributors, giant packing houses and all manner of middle men in the complex supply chain that bring the package of meat in your hands thousands of miles from where it was raised.

At the Meat Hook 32 cents of every dollar (or roughly 300% more) goes directly to our farmers giving them a financial incentive to continue properly raising local animals on pasture. Where does the rest go? Small, local, family-owned slaughterhouses, our local trucking companies that bring the animals from slaughter to our door and to pay our rent, taxes and the people who make the Meat Hook worth shopping at. The important thing here is that all of this dollar (well, except the part that goes to pay federal taxes) stays in our local economy, creating more and better jobs that, hopefully, end up as more people who want to buy local meat.

What Can I Get at The Meat Hook?

EVERYTHING!

We specialize in locally produced Beef, Pork, Lamb and Poultry and when you come in the shop about 99% of what is in the cases at any given time is just that. That said, we are also a full-service shop and we can get you pretty much anything you might want from semi-boneless quail to a whole pig and everything in between. If we cannot source it for you from local farms we will tell you where it’s coming from and how it was raised and let you, our customer, decide.

Please note that special orders often need at least 2-3 working days notice so we can track down what you’re looking for and order it.

Guys, we had the Super Bowl.  It was pretty cool.  Now its time to repay the lady for all those jalapeno poppers (which she had to learn how to make) and for the pizza bagels (which had instructions on the box) she put together for you and your friends.  Trust me, the drunk sex after the game wasn’t exactly what she had in mind as a “thank you”.

So we’re stocking up on a lot of adorable roasts and cute cuts to get you to those valuable relationship points.  God knows you’ll need them down the road.  Lamb, Filet Mignon, Center-Cut Chops, pates, terrines, house-made things and thingamajigs, and a lot besides that.

So here’s your shot.  Valentine’s is a couple of days away and your girlfriend told me she likes steaks.  Honestly, that’s what she said.  We talk all the time.

…also maybe expect some “pre-game” breakfast beers on the house!

As a note for the New Year’s Eve procrastinator, we’ll be closing early on Saturday at 4pm.  On top of that we’ll be closed January 1st and 2nd.  What, you think you’re going to be the only one with a hangover that would make the Gods shudder?

LET’S GO!  PARTY!

]]> http://the-meathook.com/3261/the-nitritenitrate-dilemma/feed/ 0 http://the-meathook.com/3257/cotechino/ http://the-meathook.com/3257/cotechino/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:19:41 +0000 Ben http://the-meathook.com/?p=3257 Pork sausage made for the festive holiday Italian in us all.  Pork skin and nutmeg, anise and white pepper give you a jolt of Christmas straight in your mouthhole.

On Tuesday, January 17th, Ben Turley will be doing what he does best–making juvenile jokes about phallic objects in the Sausage-Making course!  You’ll get to do all the work as Ben teaches you how to properly grind, mix, stuff, and link your own sausages at home.  Be prepared to do some drinking, joking and having an all-around great time.  Each person will be taking home some of the delicious sausages that you make yourselves!  Sign up HERE.

On the 19th, Matt Greene will be teaching the first in an exciting new series called “Cooking with the Masters”.  This first installation will be focused on the original great, Julia Child.  Matt will be pulling from her books and cooking some of the seminal dishes she created and brought from her cooking adventures abroad.  It’s one thing to read a recipe, it’s another to see it created.  This will be a sit down dinner with drinks so get ready to get full RIGHT HERE!

Our very own Sara Bigelow will be teaching our Pig Butchering course on January 25th.  This is maybe our most popular class and sells out so book it early.  Sara will be taking you through every cut on a pig, helping to demystify where your favorite cuts come from on the animal.  You’ll also be tasting some of our favorite cuts right off the pig!  Enjoy some beers, bring some questions and watch as Sara shows you how it’s done.  Sign up HERE.

Look forward to more great classes in February!  Have a good holiday, guys!