The Meat Hook

I've never had a regular "butcher." Hell, before I moved to NY, I don’t think I'd ever even been to a butcher. Like most Americans, I bought my meat in shrink-wrapped packages in the local mega-mart.

We rarely do this anymore. Instead, we've been trying to buy our meat from a local butcher, or at least from the butcher's counter at a reputable grocery store like Whole Foods or Fairway, where we have some confidence that the meat is of high quality and that the animals providing it have been raised responsibly.

And, in the past half-year, we've been taking nearly all of our business to a new butcher shop called The Meat Hook, which recently opened up in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. The Meat Hook claims to deal only with trusted farmers and sustainably raised animals. I believe them, and the proof is in the pudding: One taste of their mighty fine products is all it takes. Their homemade sausages are inventive and incredibly delicious; their slab bacon is to die for; and their beef and poultry cuts are top-notch.

This past weekend we purchased a raw (not pre-cooked) ham steak, which we watched them cut straight off of a giant hock. Later that evening we slapped that approximately inch-thick slab o' porky goodness on the grill, about 6 minutes on each side, and it made us forget everything we thought we knew about ham. None of that insipid, overly salty, unnaturally pink stuff injected with tons of nitrates; no, the taste of this was somewhere in between the greatest pork chop I've ever had and a beef tenderloin.

We've also had a number of fantastic sausages from them, including a truly unique green chorizo, full of poblano, jalapeno, and Serrano peppers and cilantro. We used this sausage to make huevos rancheros one weekend morning and it really brought that simple dish to a new level. In fact, we've never had a sausage from them that failed to impress. Currently, we have a shop-smoked kielbasa and andouille sausage from The Meat Hook in our freezer. The former we'll probably just eat with some rye bread, sauerkraut, and mustard; the latter will become part of some Cajun-style rice and beans or jambalaya.

What really sets The Meat Hook apart, though, is its incredible customer service, which is always a surprise in NYC (and particularly a surprise in the cooler-than-thou hipster mecca that is Williamsburg). If you mosey up to the counter one of the butchers will greet you with a friendly hello and be chatting you up in no time, and will answer your questions (of which you'll probably have many) thoroughly and thoughtfully. What's more, the employees really seem to enjoy their work, and they perform it with an enthusiasm that is infectious. I particularly remember a recent visit where one of the butchers was busy making sausages when the shop's sound system (usually blaring classic rock) cued up "Black Betty" by Ram Jam, causing him to momentarily drop what he was doing to clap and stomp along and encourage anyone in the store to do the same. I must admit, it’s the first time I've ever though butchering could be a fun job. But don't take my word for it… watch this video to get an idea of The Meat Hook's atmosphere:



Is it expensive? Yeah, even for our out-of-whack NYC cost barometer, it's a bit pricey. But we've been of the mind lately that meat should be expensive because we should be eating it less frequently, and it should be of higher quality when we do eat it. More succinctly, eat less meat, eat better meat.

Currently, The Meat Hook shares a large warehouse space with The Brooklyn Kitchen, a fine, if not also a bit pricey purveyor of kitchenware and provisions such as locally sourced, seasonal veggies; homemade stock; dried beans and grains; dairy, etc.; as well as homebrewing supplies and ingredients. A visit to the entire complex is a must for any local foodie… and trust me when I say "Get the ham steak."