Name: Seth Nason
Butcher, The Meathouse
Are you a vegetarian? Any vegetarians working here?
No, I don't think a single one of us is a vegetarian.
What's the choicest cut of meat, here or that you've ever had?
The choicest one I ever had, and one we do get from time to time, is Kobe Beef or Waagu. It's just a fine cut of meat, very tender, buttery, you can almost cut it with a spoon. It's also about $39.99 a pound retail.
What is your most popular item?
By far, the Meat House steak tips. They outsell pretty much everything else. In winter we get a lot of stuffed pork rolls, and in the summer we sell a ton of kabobs, but definitely the Meat House marinated steak tips are by far the most popular. It's a mildly-spiced Italian with black pepper and mustard seed.
What's your favorite marinade?
My personal favorite is the new kalbi marinade we have. It's a Korean barbecue, it's sweet and savory. It's a very tasty marinade.
What's your stance on pink slime?
We don't do it, period. Never have, never will. We grind our burgers several times a day from fresh cut meat.
Where do you get most of your meat?
We try to source it through small local farms as much as possible. I'd say about 30-40 percent of our products are local products, including grocery. We try to do as much local business as possible. With beef, it's a little harder, but we try to keep up.
Does it make you mad that butcher is a word with something of a negative connotation, like when people say someone “butchered” something?
I don't think being a butcher has a negative connotation. I'm pretty proud to be a butcher. I love my job.
What is the most exotic animal you've ever offered here?
Ostrich, alligator, we've had kangaroo before, although we haven't had it for awhile. And the most exotic I've ever had but haven't seen in a store is probably caribou. It's difficult to get, because you don't find a lot of caribou farming.
Do you ever have dreams where cows are chasing you with cleavers?
Not cows, but I do have dreams about Christmastime and all the roasts we cut.
