Openings

New Sustainable Butcher Shop From a Chez Panisse Alum Opens in Berkeley

The butchers wear ties there.
The butchers wear ties there. Photo: Berkeleyside

An old-timey butcher shop, selling restaurant-quality, sustainable meat from a bevy of well known local producers, just opened in the Gourmet Ghetto in Berkeley. It’s called The Local Butcher Shop (1600 Shattuck Avenue, Suite 120, entrance on Cedar), and co-owners Aaron and Monica Rocchino plan to take a novel approach to pricing and selling high-quality meat, forgoing the age-old premiums on particular cuts. As Monica tells Berkeleyside, “For the farmer and for us the costs are fixed. It was the meat packers and distributors who decided to put a value on certain cuts, like tenderloin or rib-eye steaks.” At the Local Butcher Shop, prices will be based only on front, middle, and rear of the animals, and whole animals will be on display, on hooks, in glass-walled walk-in cooler.

This is also the kind of butcher shop where they wear white shirts and ties under their aprons, and where they will sell every bit of the animal, snout-to-tail, with scraps becoming charcuterie, dog food, and jarred rendered fat. Aaron Rocchino used to work at Chez Panisse, and has established relationships with some of the best known, sustainable meat producers in the local area. The shop will sell meat from Mac Magruder of Ingel-Haven Ranch in Mendocino (beef and pork), Hudson Ranch (pork), Don Watson (lamb), Phillip Paine (squab), Liberty Farm in Sonoma (duck), Bill Niman of BN Ranch in Bolinas (turkey), Mark Pasternak of Devil’s Gulch Ranch in Nicasio (rabbit), Riverdog Farm in Yolo County (pork), and Gleason Ranch in Bodega (chicken and pork).

They sell a daily sandwich, and eventually they hope to get a liquor license and serve wine with their charcuterie.

They’re open this week, but their grand opening is technically Tuesday, August 30.

The Local Butcher Shop - 1600 Shattuck Avenue, Suite 120, Berkeley - 510.845.MEAT (6328) - Open Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Chez Panisse Chef Opens Butcher Shop In Heart of Berkeley [Berkeleyside]

New Sustainable Butcher Shop From a Chez Panisse Alum Opens in Berkeley