Urban Butcher

Photo by Urban Butcher

The highlight of this place is the curing room, where they have big, beautiful hams and strings of sausages hanging in a controlled environment. When we had dinner there, the bratwurst appetizer was delicious (though nothing like what goes by the name of bratwurst in Germany) and the steak-frites and burger were both very good. I would go back to buy sausage and ham.

Because what is lacking here is anything like atmosphere or charm (the photos on the website showing an empty restaurant are somewhat deceptive in that regard). Their attempt at nouveau warehouse is strong on a warehouse look and feel, but missing the nouveau element of charm or personality. It is basically just a dump, with hard surfaces, lots of noise, uncomfortable chairs and very tight spaces.

The worst thing, though, for what purports to be a butcher shop as well as a restaurant is the butcher counter, where a dismal array of small cuts vacuum-sealed in plastic have as much appeal as meat made from lego pieces. It's another disappointment in my search for a decent butcher in DC.

My beef, so to speak, with the nouvelle boucherie shops that have sprung up in DC is that it's hit and miss what they will have. You can't go there and count on finding the cut you want for the recipe you've chosen. I have dozens of recipes that want lamb shoulder, for instance, and you can never find that cut anywhere. Whole Foods, of course, only carries popular cuts that sell well (and hardly ever carries veal because it rarely meets their oh-so exacting standards).  The other places are largely adjuncts to restaurants and on a particular day will carry whatever chef didn't use. 

The only place that has come close to offering what approaches a decent butcher counter is Stachowski's, which unfortunately is not very convenient. However, I'm dreaming of the osso buco they had in the counter there and will surely go back one of these days to get that.