In late December, I stopped by Butcher Bar, a new spot in Astoria focusing on local, organic, and grass-fed/pastured meats. It’s part butcher shop, part barbecue restaurant. The barbecue is pretty dang good, but I must admit that it’s the butcher shop aspect that excites me the most. I order most of my meats through my CSA or online, so it’s really cool to have a place I can just walk to if I want some fresh pastured meats.
While I was there, I got into a conversation with the owner, Matthew Katakis, about the shop and his reasons for opening it. Essentially, he came to understand that grass-fed/pastured meats are superior in many ways, and felt that now was the time to bring them to Astoria. I agree with him on all points, and am particularly happy to see someone who is so much a part of the community doing this. The people behind Butcher Bar are the same ones behind Pita Pan, a popular Greek spot on 30th Ave in Astoria.
They head upstate every Monday and visit the farms and pick up their meat. This allows them to have a closer relationship with the people that raise the meat, and since a lot of the farms are local, the meat fresher. They also work with Heritage Foods, and stock D’Artagnan products. Across the board, they are sourcing from places that humanely raise their animals, which is important to me.
The sell a number of cuts, some whole and some of the meat is ground up. I hear from very reliable sources that the “Bob’s Burger” is fabulous – 80/20 brisket and… bacon. The delicious smokey bacon fat melts into the rest of the meat and makes for a real taste sensation.
They also have a room set apart for dry aging.
They also have a place for dry goods, which will be a place to stock spice rubs, among other things. Right now there are piles of books that have influenced the owners of Butcher Bar. I noticed a copy of Nourishing Traditions on their shelves!
We were pleasantly surprised when we were asked to stay and taste a few things. There was pastured beef heart paté (not a regular menu item) available, which he offered to us. It was very good – one of the mildest patés I’ve ever had, with wonderful flavor.
We gladly gobbled it up happily. They also brought by some of their ribs, which were fantastic. They have both their original and sweet/spicy sauce, but I prefer the original.
The meat basically fell off the bone, it was so tender. We loved it!
I took home some mac and cheese, and T really enjoyed it.
The dining room space is also very nice – its quite cozy warm in there! Perfect during the cold winter. Out back is a patio/garden, and they will be serving food and holding classes there once things warm up a bit.
I can’t tell you how great it is to have such a place like Butcher Bar in Astoria. And I look forward to supporting them!
Butcher Bar
37-08 30th Avenue
Astoria, NY 11105
718-606-8140
http://www.butcherbar.com
Mon-Thurs, 11:30am-11:00pm
Fri-Sat, 11:30am-12:00am
Sun, 11:30am-11:00pm
