How We’re Different
Whole Animals
Simply put, if we’re going to buy from the very best farms, we need to commit to purchasing the whole animal. After all, it’s animals that they raise, not pork chops or ribeyes. (This is not the case for 99% of butcher shops, for whom meat comes in boxes of different primal muscles). Committing to the whole animal is also the most respectful approach to meat. Lastly, our customers benefit because they can save money on the lesser utilized cuts of meat.
Tasty Meats
Maybe we’re just trying to get meat to taste the way it did in generations past. Egg yolks are supposed to be golden, beef and chicken should be full of flavor, and pork was never meant to be an insipid, lean “white” meat. Sausage doesn’t need fillers, and when a cow lives for over two years, we think it has time to hang (dry-age) for two weeks. Our farmers raise their animals slowly, and we do our best from there.
Healthy Meats
Healthy meat can only come from healthy animals, and healthy animals come from holistic husbandry practices. Read about our farms to see how they do it.
If you’re interested in the numerous health benefits of pasture raised meat, please read here.
Making Our Meat Affordable
At Left Bank Butchery we believe in supporting an agricultural system that doesn’t take short-cuts. We support farming practices that:
Respect the livelihoods of the farmers (our neighbors)
Respect the life of an animal
Contribute to healthy ecosystems
Cheap meat is often reliant on sacrificing in these categories, or in passing off the costs to someone else (whether that be the environment or taxpayers). Know that when you buy from Left Bank Butchery, you’re also supporting an alternative food system here in the Piedmont. In all ways, we think that buying “less” good meat is preferable to buying larger quantities of conventional meat.
We also want to make our food as accessible as possible. We feel confident that we can work within any budget to help to you produce tasty and healthy food for yourself and family. Below we have a butcher’s guide to eating affordably. We also have notes about the unique steaks you can find at our butcher shop.
A Butcher’s Guide to Buying Meat
Understanding Our Steaks
Our Approach To Food
There’s a renewed interest in food; how wonderful it can taste, how and where it was raised, and in the far-reaching connections between us, our food, and the environment. We’re thrilled about this, about people wanting to be reconnected with their food. But this sometimes leads to the stress and one-upmanship towards food that baffles us. The TV is wrong; you needn’t be a gourmet chef. Your family will not stop loving you if you overcook the bird. Food served with a smile is always better. (Has there ever been a roast so dry that an extra glass of wine won’t wash it down?) Our relationship to food is a lifelong relationship to friends, family and the world that surrounds us. At Left Bank, we are passionate about food, but never enough to take ourselves too seriously. Our goal is to make good food enjoyable.