“William and I met at Shuckers and became lovers.”
J’Amy Owens is telling the story of Bill the Butcher, a new chain of Pacific Northwest butcher shops. The story begins with William Von Schneidau, her lover, riding his motorcycle through the tiny farming communities of Eastern Washington.
“He’s charming,” Owens laughs, picturing him in the empty space over my right shoulder. “He’s a huge outdoorsman, and he would get on his motorcycle and explore the state, by himself. And he would meet all these small suppliers, small farmers and ranchers, and he started sewing up this small supply chain—this endless web of love—of farmers and ranchers who were local. He would see a farmer: He’s got plenty of grass that’s fenced—why doesn’t he have cows on it?”
Bill the Butcher is now open in Madison Valley, Laurelhurst, Woodinville, and Redmond. Along with the ability to convert farmers into ranchers, and ranchers into organic ranchers, company founder Von Schneidau boasts meat expertise: “I’ve been in the meat business since I was 14,” he says. His consulting firm, CORE (www.coreseed.com), offers “Restaurant Profit Optimization,” “Specialty Food Marketing,” and “Green Packaging Programs.” According to his bio, he has directed “the production cooking for 12,000 daily casino visitors,” he’s been an executive sous-chef at a four-star hotel, and he’s “distributed over 30 million dollars in proteins” in the wholesale meat industry.
Owens is the CEO of Bill the Butcher and a professional retail consultant—she helped Starbucks open its first stores outside of Seattle. She has the backing of a well-capitalized publicly held company and decades of retail savvy. Her client list includes Nike, McDonald’s, Jenny Craig, Sears, and Cinnabon. She gives motivational speeches at retail conventions and was recently named one of the “25 Most Influential People in Retail” by an industry group. According to the aromatherapy handbook The Fragrant Mind, Owens has specialized in “aroma-psychology,” i.e., the scenting of retail outlets. Aroma is “one of the best ways to influence the customer that’s legal,” she says; she will design a customized retail scent for around $20,000.
“William’s the steak and I’m the sizzle in our partnership… I can’t tell you what to buy and how to cook it,” Owens says, “but William can, all the livelong day.”
William Von Schneidau vouches for the quality of Bill the Butcher’s meat. According to the signage above Bill the Butcher’s meat cases, the beef, pork, lamb, veal, goat, chicken, fish, and game are all “certified organic and natural.”
But there’s one thing Von Schneidau and Owens won’t share, and that’s the names of the putatively organic ranches that supply the shops. “But if we get to know [the ranchers] and we actually know them—we actually know them by their first names, we talk to them every day—that’s good enough for us,” says Owens. “We have the relationships, and that’s good enough to have source verification that we trust.”
Von Schneidau says that the names of the farms aren’t important to his clients: “We don’t want to confuse the consumer getting into too many ‘this farm, that farm’ things.” Within the next six months, he says, the Bill the Butcher supply chain will be solidified, and then they’ll consider revealing sources to their customers. Meanwhile: “If I did a blind test with you, and we served a top sirloin from five different farms… nobody will notice the difference anyway.”
Jill Lightner, food writer and editor of Edible Seattle, disagrees. Vehemently. “There’s no excuse for anything other than a completely transparent supply chain in our food system,” she says. “It’s what a consumer should expect. It’s impossible to tell whether a label means something without a consumer devoting an absurd amount of time… This is exactly why transparency in sourcing is the only thing that matters. If you know the ranch, you can visit the ranch, see the animals, and ask questions. If you don’t know the ranch, you’re relying on a marketing department.”
The cows are from “as close as we can get them,” according to Owens. “If it were being raised across the street and the specs were right, we’d buy them.” She will say that the meat comes from as far as Colorado and Nevada (a 20-hour motorcycle ride).
According to Owens and Von Schneidau, some of the meat is USDA certified organic and some is certified natural—a certification monitored by ranchers themselves, not the USDA. Then some is what Von Schneidau calls “beyond organic”—certified as neither, but “grass-fed and sustainably ranched” and personally checked. Von Schneidau says, “My specs to [the ranchers] are ‘x, y, z,’ and we get as close to that as we can to call it ‘Bill the Butcher.'”
But recently at both the Woodinville store and the Madison Valley store, everything was being sold as certified organic. When asked which ranch a flank steak came from and what the cow ate, the young butcher at the Woodinville store replied, “Well, it’s not like I can ask this steak where it came from, you know. But I can tell you that everything here is local and organic.”
When the butchers at Bill the Butcher in Laurelhurst describe what is sold at all of the stores as a “scavenger chicken,” they tell of how the farmer lets the baby chicks out into the forest, and how they nest and fend for themselves, and how the farmer walks through the trees and finds them wherever they’ve nested when it’s slaughter time.
But Von Schneidau admits, “Scavenger chicken is just a nickname—it doesn’t really mean anything. We just came up with that name to say to people that it wasn’t a store-bought chicken.”
The chicken farm is the one source that Bill the Butcher is forthcoming about: Dog Mountain Farm in Carnation. David Krepky, co-owner of Dog Mountain, says, “Yeah, I told them not to use the word ‘scavenger,’ because they’re not.” The chickens are kept in an indoor/outdoor pen and given feed to supplement whatever bugs and grass they find in the outdoor part.
Dog Mountain Farm’s chickens are highly regarded, sustainably and humanely raised heirloom chickens. But Bill the Butcher’s butchers also claimed that the Dog Mountain Farm chickens were certified organic. “No,” says Krepky, “they’re not organic. The organic feed comes from Canada, and it’s like twice as expensive.” Are they certified natural? “Nope,” says Krepky, “neither. They’re just good chickens.”
Does Krepky know that Bill the Butcher is selling the chickens as organic? “Yeah, I’ve seen it, and I’ve told them it’s not… not to do that. But they label what they do.”
Does Von Schneidau know that Bill the Butcher is selling nonorganic Dog Mountain Farm chickens as organic? “Well, we do have organic chickens—we get those from another farm.” He says the misrepresentation was a “mistake” and “yes, absolutely, a failure in our training. I haven’t taken all of [the butchers] around to the farms yet—I’m slowly doing that.”
Recently, a Nicky USA Farms truck was seen leaving the Madison Valley store. Nicky USA Farms, based in Oregon, confirms that Bill the Butcher is a client. They also confirm that their meat is neither certified organic nor certified natural, in spite of Bill the Butcher’s claims that what they’re selling is all “certified organic and natural.” Von Schneidau says that Nicky USA sells “certain things like quail or venison, caribou and bear, things that go back into a whole different exotic category… that I can’t get, that farmers up this way just aren’t doing.” Nicky USA also sells beef, pork, lamb, veal, and all the other meats Bill the Butcher claims to source from organic ranches that the company refuses to name.
Asked why the consumer should believe in the quality of unnamed meat sources, Owens says, “Well, ‘buyer beware,’ honestly. In any consumer proposition, you have to trust the person you’re buying from.” However, in her retail motivational speeches (which can be viewed on YouTube), she exhorts retailers to focus on the customer’s emotional experience and not the products themselves: “The purpose under every single transaction is personal. They’re not buying the shampoo, they’re buying the feeling—they want to take home the feeling… That’s the reason they’re there.”
Bill the Butcher’s marketing and in-store signage explicitly state “Certified Organic and Natural Beef, Lamb, Veal, Goat, Cheese, Fish, Chicken, Pork, Game” (its website says “only locally sourced and ethically raised meat”). When asked, butchers at two locations said, “Everything in the case is organic.”
The first Bill the Butcher outlet opened less than a year ago; the other three followed almost immediately. Owens is currently looking at real estate for the next wave of Bill the Butcher expansion. Recent food-retail trends reflect an explosion in the organic and local sector of the market—Owens says that organics are currently the “only growth category in food.” Riding its increased popularity, investors in Owens’s company have driven her share price from a penny per share when she bought a controlling interest in 2009 to $3 per share in a 2010 SEC filing—a return of over $11 million on her $37,100 investment, in just under a year. Bill the Butcher customers pay 10 to 20 percent more than at comparable local butcher shops, although no other local shops claim to sell solely certified organic and certified natural meats.
As Owens says in one of her motivational speeches, “If you pick your niche, you get rich.” 
Hilarious, fabulous story. Veblen’s cackling in his grave.
Juicy exposé!
Good article.
I don’t think anything can be certified as “natural”, can it? It’s not a USDA certification like “organic”, anyway.
As as for this: “Von Schneidau says that the names of the farms aren’t important to his clients” he may be right. Because without that information I will not be one of his clients.
This makes me very sad. Shame on Butcher Bill if this is all true.
Skip all this crap and go to Rainshadow Meats on Capitol Hill instead! Everything says where it came from, and Russ the butcher is great!!
Terrific article and an uncomfortable reminder of how much we rely on marketing to tell us what we’re getting.
Great article! Thanks for doing it, so I won’t get sucked into their shenanigans.
I’ll stick with Bob the Butcher in Columbia City.
Excellent! Allowing the truth or lack therof to reveal itself in a thoroughly entertaining and insightful way. Would love to hear what the FDA has to say about good ol’ Bill and his “organic, I mean natutal, I mean it’s none of your business where it comes from” meat.
I was really excited to hear about this place, but the whole point of seeking out “farm to table” shops is so that we can actually KNOW where the food came from. Seems like they’re giving priority to raking in the dough over truth and transparency, which is a really huge shame.
@5, I’ve never heard of Rainshadow meats, I will definitely seek that out, cheers!
In the meantime, I will continue buying from the farmers directly at our wonderful local farmers’ markets!
I host blind tastings of meat, including beef, from different artisan and near artisan ranches & butcher teams. Trust me, virtually everyone can tell the differences in flavor & texture (more formally I call the key attributes Texture, Personality, and Impression). Heck, I’ve had a nine year old and his 6 year old sister nearly come to fisticuffs over which farm’s ground beef made the better burger.
@CleverScreenName This is a terrible URL link but it should link you to the USDA definition of “naturally raised” beef.
ttp://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=TemplateN&navID=NaturallyRaisedMarketingClaimStandards&rightNav1=NaturallyRaisedMarketingClaimStandards&topNav=&leftNav=GradingCertificationandVerfication&page=NaturallyRaisedMarketingClaims
@5 and 10: Here’s some more info on brand-new Rain Shadow Meats and (the awesomely named) butcher Russ Flint.
I hope it all works out for Bill because the ribeyes I bought on Saturday were possibly the best I’ve ever had.
I can taste the difference between hamburgers from two different grass fed farms (both sold at the local farmers market) without question and likely so could anyone else. With all the different stories going on I won’t be shopping there. If you can’t tell me what farm it’s from I might as well shop anywhere. Supply chain is what I expect from any smaller vendor (and larger ones for that matter!)
This is honestly disturbing. It doesn’t take more than one food establishment mis-representing their goods as ‘organic’ or ‘local’ to ruin it for all the other true organic restaurants & bakeries in Seattle. As an organic bakery owner (we use organic & local ingredients and do not claim to be 100% organic) I am very honest and upfront about our supplier chain. This is one of the qualities of believing in local/organic/sustainable food systems – supply chain honesty and visibility to your consumers.
@13: It sounds like it’s up to Bill to work it out. I’m all about delicious food, but dishonesty leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Hi there,
I posted a comment on Yelp a while ago saying that I didn’t believe the claims Bill the Butcher was making. You can view my yelp review on the Bill the Butcher – Madison Valley yelp profile. Today Bill himself replied and this is what he wrote me:
__________________________________
Cindy,
You are correct that we do not share specific ranches and farms currently. We are still developing our food chain and it simply is not prudent to release the names of specific farms at this time. In the near future we will have featured cards on the farmers and their farms and total transparency.
We are encouraging farms and co-ops up and down the Sound to produce to our specifications, and our neighborhood butcher shops are providing a selling venue for them beyond the farmer’s market. This is creating a new supply chain, which requires patience and care and one we have been working on diligently since before last September when we opened. We are heavily involved in and a sponsor of the Focus on Farming convention and have been engaged with co-operatives in Northern and Southern Washington. We have agreements with ranchers and providers from Lopez Island to Anacortes to Spanaway to Carnation and Marysville to name just a few. Good things take time and we are making sure we do not jeopardize quality for quickness; there is enough of that in the U.S. food industry already.
We do supplement some product from nearby states like Oregon, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana when need be and we will continue to do so until our local supply chain can meet the needs of our customers. These out of state farms still produce to our standards and are currently necessary to meet our current demand needs.
Our meats are certified USDA Organic or raised to our beyond organic standards. No hormones, no steroids, no antibiotics, no Genetically Modified food inputs. We believe in rotational pastured grazing and sustainable farming practices and want to ensure our success does not come at the expense of our farms so we are working with them to develop accurate and scalable forecasts to ensure we do not stress the farm or the farmer.
We have nothing to hide at Bill the Butcher but we simply aren’t in a position yet to give away the farm.
I hope this makes sense and please feel free to email or call me with any other concerns or issues. *information removed for privacy reason*
___________________________________________
It seems Bill is still in denial or flat out lying.
I think I’m going to check out that new Rainshadow meats everyone is mentioning.
Full Circle Farm is now offering local natural meats along with their produce deliveries. Pasture raised beef and pork from regional growers, and they can tell you exactly where each cut came from. It is fantastic, delicious stuff!
Me, I’m an A&J meats person, but then I don’t really care about knowing which farm a chunk of steak came from. I’m not sure I understand all of this farm to table hype. I grew up on a farm and I can tell you that the quality of the product varies so much on a farm (depending on the field, the levels of irrigation it received, the day it was planted, the day it was harvested) that knowing which farm it came from is kind of useless.
I’m pretty sure all of the people wasting money on these overpriced ‘local’ source food haven’t stepped onto an actual farm, well, ever. You can wax philosophical about the benefits of grass-fed or grain fed or free-range or, my favorite, scavenger chickens, but it’s a bunch of food-snob hype. I’m pretty sure that if I take a pen raised steer and tell you it was allowed to wander and graze on grass, you’ll choke down the beef and the 20% markup and smile and brag to your friends about how you are eating locally sourced.
Until I see your butt on a tractor or working in a field, your opinion on the quality of a farm, the benefits of proximity of agriculture or the difference that the farming/livestock technique makes is about as worthless as Bill the Butcher’s assurances.
I buy the big bags of meat at IGA Cash and Carry. It’s inexpensive, and tastes good. Now, if you want to know what the meat you are eating ate, raise it yourself. It really isn’t that hard, just don’t go nameing it.
OMG Cindyriffic, you seem like the type of person that makes me want to punch old people in the mouth. You actually post comments about your other comments with links to YOUR other comments. wow what a fucking turdbrain. Wow now I feel like I need to shop at this store since idiots like you aren’t shopping there, and I am a freaking vegetarian!
HEY LOOK AT ME
@ 21, do you always comment when you’re drunk?
Check out Rain Shadow Meats on Melrose between Pike and Pine. It is NOT a chain store lying to its customers about whether or not its products are organic AND the origins of its meats are clearly advertised. What’s more, the shop’s butcher is also its owner and sales person. In other words, one person is accountable for sourcing meats, butchery, and retail sales. This means you can have a conversation with Rain Shadow Meats’ proprietor, and he can tell you what the farm is like where the meat came from, because he’s been there and why its cut the way it is, because he cut it. It’s a whole lot of peace of mind.
Christ–what a terrible name for a butcher. All I can think of is Daniel Day Lewis’ psychotic “Butcher Bill” character in “Gangs Of New York”. I suppose “Gein’s Meats” was already taken.
Well I think his wife’s comments cited at the beginning of the article and her past associations should be a red flag unto itself. Nike McDonald’s aren’t exactly high class, moral and sustainable operations.
I don’t really mind them not stating which meat comes from which farm. However, if they’ve got up signs saying it’s organic when it isn’t, that’s a legal issue. There’s a reason that certified organic is more expensive, which is that it’s bloody well expensive to do. Frankly, as someone who’s worked on farms that are properly certified, I’m not going to demean the regulations by shopping somewhere that’s going to lie about what they’re selling.
The other major problem with this is that if they’re buying “natural” meat and selling it as organic, it means that farms that actually do take the time and effort to raise meat within certification guidelines are losing business because of this company’s duplicity. The butcher is using the misrepresentation to take away the very market that people think they’re supporting when they shop there.
Check out The Swinery in West Seattle too. They don’t mess around and they’re stuff is darn good. They sell more than pork too, though their bacon is the sh*t.
The boss was at the Madison store the other day and he really brings on the hustle. A real salesman. My first impression is they are trying to bring together lots of localish high end labels and products and sell them to wealthy people. All the meat I asked about had a bit of a caveat. Something about what they hope to do eventually… And he explained the large Makers Mark bottle over the counter by saying they trade bourbon for meat. Maybe I’ll take him up on it. It certainly felt like a shop made by a marketing department. This article is fascinating. Good job.
This sounds like Bill the Butcher is putting the cart before the organic horse. Firstly, there is NO organic certification in the United States for fish (you cannot certify water organic), and the closest organic fish that even comes close to meeting the standards would probably be Irish or Scottish Salmon. These are organic according to the standards of other countries. You can certify the feed organic, but to quote a trout famer I’ve known, “Fish don’t eat broccoli. They just don’t. You need to feed them fish meal and grain, and unfortunately, that means government corn and wheat most of the time.”
Secondly, in this article, the staff has been exposed as inept, misinformed, and misleading to the customer. You’d better know what your fish, steer, and lamb are eating. Is it grass, grain, or corn fed? Is it simply grass finished? If you want to be beyond organic, you need to know what kind of grass it is that they’re eating, if their pasture is clear and clean of sprays and pesticides, and if the soil is fertile and free of rainwater contamination.
If this is truly about the quality of the meat, and not a marketing machine (if only we all had our lovers to be our PR guru), there needs to be a hell of a lot of education of staff before BTB can back up his claims. Don’t shit in my hands and tell me it’s where an organic ribeye comes from. You can say anything is beyond organic. I’ve known farmers who do not subscribe to the organic movement because they feel that simply stating that their product is “No Spray” is enough. They’re not deceiving the customers into thinking what they’re getting is a superior product based on name association alone. It’s good, honest food, and if you eat it, you’ll be healthy. If I infer, through reading this article and visiting the butcher shops, that these hardworking family farms are being misrepresented, as a businessman and business model, there needs to be considerable change before I can ever endorse a place like this.
Train your staff. Know the difference between all natural, natural, kosher, halal, wild caught, farm raised, and please drop the beyond organic nonsense. It’s a huckster’s phrase, and if you want the respect of informed consumers, don’t be a snake oil salesman. I understand that there’s the bottom line of putting money in your pocket, although you can comfortably exist on the stock offerings. Still, there’s nothing worse than a poorly informed attempt to take you to the cleaners for the purpose of making a buck when you know they’re wrong. I don’t care how good your pork chop tastes. It’s not organic. You lie to me, you lose my business as a consumer, and I’m sure as Ms. Owens can probably tell you, each lost consumer, over a lifetime, represents in a business like this, $20,000 or more, assuming that they don’t tell their friends (which they will. The uppities LOVE doing that).
Start off on the right foot. Educate your staff. Educate your staff. Do it, or you’ll soon see that the hype machine wears off.
How many of the staff can break down a PSMO? Can you seam separate a leg of veal? If I go up to the counter and ask someone to chine a rack of lamb for me, is it going to be a long drawn out spiel over how the bone makes it taste better? Be less about the story, and more about the quality, and for fuck’s sake, DON’T LIE TO THE CUSTOMER!
I got a 4# roasting chicken from the Mad Valley the other week. I really liked the shop itself, but the chicken, which I prepared exactly the same as I’ve done with many supermarket chickens, (brine overnight, convection roast in cast iron skillet to the same internal temp), was pretty unremarkable. In fact, I prefer the better supermarket ones for taste and juiciness. I’ll try Rainshadow next time.
If he is selling it, someone else slaughtered and processed it. Every piece of meat came into his store with a USDA Establishment number on it. Customers should have access to those establishment numbers, if they care, and can at least learn something about where those animals were slaughtered and if the plant is certified organic. If he won’t tell you the establishment numbers, or won’t show you a label with those numbers on it, then he definitely has something to hide. We can all talk about what he may or may not be doing, but those process plant numbers are specific and real, and he had better have them or risk going to jail. Recalls are based on plant numbers, so consumers should have access to those numbers.
Seconding the recommendation for Bob’s Meats in Columbia City. We get all our pork from there. Their beef is also grass fed and local, though we get most of our beef directly from a local farm because we has connections. It’s great to fill the chest freezer with a quarter beef in the fall.
I’m going to Rainwater right now.
JBS @ 31: my understanding (and this is based on conversations with the WSDA’s organic beef specialist in Oly) is that the slaughterhouses are USDA inspected and certified for operation but not certified as organic or non–that the same slaughterhouse can process both organic and non-organic animals, and that doesn’t bear on the certification of the rancher or the claims made at the retail point of sale.
CSN @3, there are lots of org’s out there (generally groups of farmers and ranchers) offering independent certifications as “natural,” and in 2009 WA state senate passed a bill authorizing the state certification of “naturally raised and naturally raised grass fed cattle.” it’s pending in the house, where it should pass this season.
and yes, i second, and third, and raise my hand “aye” for all the votes for Bob’s and Rain Shadow and A&J’s and Don & Joe’s and all the other indy shops that have been mentioned and those that haven’t. bob’s especially (owned by james, bob was his dad) seems like the direct inspiration for the more glammed-up and retail-ized Bill’s
SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rain Shadow Meats on Caphill has thundering hooves and painted hills beef. Both grass fed, with painted hills corn fed the last two weeks. Plus the owner won’t lie to you about his products. Shame on you Bill!
I wonder if he is breaking the law by providing inadequate labeling. I found a pdf produced by the state of tennessee which is designed to clarify USDA requirements. Giving it a quick read, it is pretty clear to me that Bill is not in compliance if (big if) butchers are required to label their food.
In other words, if butchers selling meat out of a case are required to label the food, he is not in compliance. If they aren’t, well, they should be.
http://cpa.utk.edu/pdffiles/cpa150.pdf
Follow up: more label requirements:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Regulations/Man…
@21 Really? Don’t be such a douche.
Isn’t is a plain and simple legal issue if they are selling any items as organic that are not actually organic? Also, you can buy local, organic meats and produce at most good grocery stores and farmers markets around the city. Why would we need a boutique butcher anyway?
Does Bill the Butcher have a “signature scent”? If not, I vote for a mix of blood and garlic, with a hint of bleach for sanitation.
At least with product that is sold as is in the case, it needs to have Country of origin law attached to it. It needs to have Wild or farm raised if it is fish, and for meat, it needs to have either a USDA certification on the product, or a certification posted in a ‘conspicuous place’ according to rules and regulations stating that it is inspected as a facility. That simply means that all the purveyors are in compliance with USDA standards and practices. Whether or not it is labeled as all natural or organic is another thing entirely. This hasn’t gotten to the point yet of the Orange Juice/OrangeAde debate, or the Cranberry Juice Cocktail phase (% of juice versus water/cornsyrup, etc.) if only because it is still considered among many to be a niche market. Flat regulations cannot be applied yet. If it’s certified organic, prove it by staking the Oregon Tilth or similar signpick next to the meat. That’s the added cache of things such as Marine Stewardship certification with fish. It is a selling point if you can prove through third party certification that your product meets the rigorous standards of what can be considered Wild, sustainable, or organic. If you can’t, or if you won’t, you’re just blowing smoke up our asses, and it is outright lying to the consumer. Withholding of information is tantamount to lying and poor business practices. This is the organic trade here, not the Back of the Yards stockhouses run by the mob from the early 1900s. Have a little pride in your business, own up to your product, and give the customer the ironclad proof they need to see that what you see is what you get.
With that, I checked out Rainwater today. Small little counter, but if you want transparency in your food supply chain, go there. Every steak, every fresh meat item has the farm of origin lined up right there, and the sausages, crepinettes and confits are housemade. The proprietor is right behind the counter, and if you need further proof that he’s the real deal, there is a window into the cooler. You can see every piece of meat that is waiting to be broken down from a subprimal, and it is stamped or sealed with where it came from. There are hanging porkbellies and a six bone Rib roast hanging on meat hooks. What more do you need?
I got a hangar steak for one, as well as some cheese from Calf and Kid, and some japanese baby turnips from Mint and Marigold, and each one had the full backing of someone who was forthcoming with information, (the woman at the cheese place tasted the ricotta to ensure quality before I bought it), and were honest about where it came from (The turnips came from Oxbow farms in Snoqualmie valley, first of the season, in the ground that day. If you’ve ever dug a turnip, you know what a fresh one looks like. Unbelievable appearance and flavor).
That spot is going to be something special. They’ve all bonded in the two and a half weeks that they’ve been open, and it’s well worth it to explore and support the single proprietors who are making a good honest living by selling something that we all can believe in- quality product and compassionate service.
I had searched for months for a reputable butcher and finally stumbled A&J Meats at the top of Queen Anne. Sustainable, grass fed beef, local farm raised hogs, no factory chickens and their own smoke house. The family operating it has been around for over 90 years and they know their shit! Stop spending your money in these phony chain store, Whole-Foods, Starbucks, feel good theme joints . They advertise sustainability but still use tons of real-estate, out smaller businesses under, offer the same colorful packaging and usually get caught lying to you about the quality of their products and where they came from. Butchering is an art form, handed down from generation to generation. A dying art form at that. At least support a business that actually gives a shit about its craft and what its customers put in their bodies.
I did the Whole Foods thing for a while, and while public perception typically is that of what you’re onto, they’re one of the few bigger box stores that actually retains the journeyman position of butchering. It doesn’t really matter too much, though. Unless you get out in the country (yes, further than Woodinville), there aren’t nose-to-tail butchers. All meat comes in shrinkwrapped/vacuum sealed, broken down into a single rack or subprimal. Most people don’t need to do more than run it through a bandsaw to make it look like a finished product. It’s sad, but true. We don’t know how to trim a fat cap because we don’t have to. At least give them a little credit there. Even if WF sources are large scale, they’re fairly upfront about it, and usually start with a higher grade, if somewhat jejune piece of meat.
‘…she exhorts retailers to focus on the customer’s emotional experience and not the products themselves: “The purpose under every single transaction is personal. They’re not buying the shampoo, they’re buying the feeling—they want to take home the feeling… That’s the reason they’re there.”‘
… actually, I’m there to make sure that I’m eating local, sustainably farmed meat that is organic and free of preservatives.
I guess you won’t be seeing me in YOUR shop!
Now I feel like a jerk. Rainshadow. The guys gave me a great steak. Go there. All the time. Every time.
We get the cow straight from the farm at Hemlock Highlands [http://hemlockhighlands.net]
Wow… I’ve shopped at BtB a few times over the last couple of months, both the Woodinville one and the new Redmond one (well, it’s convenient to Victors – my favourite coffee shop 🙂 and been impressed by the look and texture of the meat, but now… well… I’m looking for a good butcher, one that also sells things like goat, in the Redmond/Woodinville area (Rainshadow, whilst it sounds good, is just too far away for me to pop to on an evening when I want a nice steak to sling on the grill). Anyone any suggestions?
Here’s an interesting follow-up: Not one certified organic beef ranch in Washington state sells beef to Bill the Butcher.
I myself shop at Madison Market! I know the beef is from Oregon, Pork is from Idaho and the lamb is from Colorado (yes Colorado) some of the best lamb I have ever tasted. I trust the butcher from Madison Market. He always answers my questions and has some GREAT ideas when it comes to cooking. He has given me some excellent recipes as well. There Cioppino is made from scratch which is very Delish. I recently tried their salmon dip (whichis their own recipe) and it was fantastic. They also have some of the best and freshest fish on the hill. I have been shopping there for years and really trust what they say I am getting is what I am getting. Lots of literiture on all products. According to the butcher if I want to go see the farms I am welcome anytime, that says a lot for me. I have tried their crab cakes some of the best around, kind of spendy (as crab is)so they are a special treat when I can afford them. Give Madison Market a try I think you’ll agree with me. All their meat is very very good.
I myself shop at Madison Market! I know the beef is from Oregon, Pork is from Idaho and the lamb is from Colorado (yes Colorado) some of the best lamb I have ever tasted. I trust the butcher from Madison Market. He always answers my questions and has some GREAT ideas when it comes to cooking. He has given me some excellent recipes as well. There Cioppino is made from scratch which is very Delish. I recently tried their salmon dip (whichis their own recipe) and it was fantastic. They also have some of the best and freshest fish on the hill. I have been shopping there for years and really trust what they say I am getting is what I am getting. Lots of literiture on all products. According to the butcher if I want to go see the farms I am welcome anytime, that says a lot for me. I have tried their crab cakes some of the best around, kind of spendy (as crab is)so they are a special treat when I can afford them. Give Madison Market a try I think you’ll agree with me. All their meat is very very good.