Customer Service A Priority At...

Butcher’s Best Market

Through the doors of the Newtown Deli & Catering can be found Newtown’s one and only “hoof to sausage guy,” Steve Ford, the owner of Butcher’s Best Market. Since September 2009, Mr Ford has carved out a 300-square-foot space for the sale of fresh meats, poultry, game, and even some seafood inside the 79 South Main Street eatery, to the delight of consumers seeking a one-on-one shopping experience.

The term “hoof to sausage” refers to a time when butchers received shipments of whole, fresh meat from small farmers located outside of the cities, and created their own cuts. Butcher’s Best Market is one of the few butcher shops today committed to the fresh, custom-cut meat orders of yesteryear, placing service before sales at all times, said Mr Ford.

On a rack above the back window, a collection of cleavers dangles above two authentic butcher blocks; vintage weight scales decorate the top of the meat counter, and prices are listed on two large blackboards on the back wall.

Inside the 12-foot-long fresh meat case, customers will find steaks, roasts, stewing meat, ribs, and other cuts of beef from certified, all-natural Angus beef cattle. All of the pork products come from hormone-free, antibiotic-free pigs purchased from Cabbage Hill Farm in Mount Kisco, N.Y. This pork is what Mr Ford uses for the store-made bacon, Canadian bacon, pancetta, and lard sold at Butcher’s Best Market. Whole pastured spring lamb and the whole pig are fabricated on site for retail cuts. Cabbage Hill Farm also provides Butcher’s Best with beef products. Spring Mountain Farm chickens are antibiotic- and hormone-free, too.

“Almost all of the meat products we carry are all-natural, and are raised without the use of antibiotics or hormones. It’s in keeping with our emphasis on local products,” Mr Ford said.

Delivered daily, seafood consisting of clams, oysters, wild-caught king salmon, and one selection of white fish, such as grey sole, is carried at Butcher’s Best Market. The market also sells dry sea scallops, a completely natural scallop that is never brined.

The all-natural rainbow trout arrives live in the store from Rowledge Pond in Sandy Hook. Mr Ford processes that fish, like the meats, on site. The Butcher’s Best Market makes its own smoked trout and salmon, and its own gravlax from Pacific king salmon, all of which have proved popular with customers.

A good portion of the display case is dedicated to one of Mr Ford’s specialties, sausages made on site. He offers an extensive variety throughout the seasons, including bratwurst and kielbasa, Italian varieties, Portuguese chorizo, a broccoli rabe and pork sausage, hot lamb sausage, and custom-made sausages to suit the individual. The sausages are each seasoned with Mr Ford’s own spice blend, and include no preservatives or additives. “With our store-made sausage we have links to the past,” he said.

Although fresh meats and fish are the meat market’s forte, a single-door frozen case offers exotic meats such as rabbit, alligator, frogs’ legs, Guinea hens, pheasant, squab and duck, which are also available fresh. “We specialize in hard to find meat items and different cuts,” said Mr Ford, “all driven by customer demand.” Cooked shrimp, lobster tails, and king crab, squid, marrow bones, smoked and natural hocks, and suet for the birds are sold from the freezer case, as well.

Ready to cook items, like meatloaf topped with the store-made smoked bacon, stuffed pork chops, stuffed lamb breast, and chicken breasts stuffed with a pork sausage and bread stuffing, flank steak stuffed with a bleu cheese spinach filling, beef broccoli, and rouladen.

Butcher’s Best Market is the purveyor of its own beef loin aged in a controlled, refrigerated environment, a process that is cherished by meat eaters for the intensely flavorful and tender meat that aged beef provides.

Mr Ford encourages questions from his customers and is eager to provide them with information gleaned from his more than 35 years of experience. With a passion not only for the precise cutting of fresh meats, but for cooking as well, Mr Ford said that he has cooked nearly everything that he carries, and is happy to help with meat selections.

He is willing to provide customers with special orders, will cut chickens or any other meat product to order, or season any product to a customer’s specification, all at no extra cost.

Educating his customers and learning from them is all part of the philosophy behind Butcher’s Best Market, said Mr Ford, and is what sets him apart from other meat purveyors. “Product quality and a passion for what we do make us successful. Customer service is what has driven this business,” he said. “Until you take an interest in other people, they won’t take an interest in you.”

Connecticut Specialty Foods Association named Butcher’s Best Market number one in the meat category for its store-made beef and lamb jerky in 2011. The shop was also took top ranking in voting for butcher shops in Connecticut, in Connecticut Magazine in 2011.

Become a fan of Butcher’s Best Market on Facebook to discover daily specials, or visit the website at www.ButchersBestMarket.com.

Butcher’s Best Market is at 79 South Main Street, inside Newtown Deli & Catering, and is open Monday through Friday, from 9 am to 5 pm; and on Saturday from 7 am to 5 pm. Closed on Sunday. To preorder or to place a special order, call 203-364-0013. For more information or information on holiday and specialty items, visit butchersbestmarket.com.