My Husband and The Butcher

Recommendations from the butcher made for a delicious dinner. Photo: Chris Bjorklund, 2015

When my husband Patrick goes grocery shopping, the first place he heads for is the meat counter. He likes talking to butchers (any butcher), asking questions about which cut to buy and getting tips on how to prepare a particular dish. Many of them love food and love to cook.

On one of his recent shopping trips, he needed extra assistance because he didn’t know his way around the store. After buying a few bratwursts, he asked the butcher where to find sauerkraut. The young man enthusiastically recommended fresh sauerkraut rather than the familiar preserved sauerkraut in a jar, and he didn’t hesitate to step around from behind the meat counter to walk my husband to that aisle. How often do you see a butcher doing that?

But the attention and service didn’t stop there. Next, the butcher asked if my husband needed rolls or buns. Not surprisingly, he had a recommendation. He insisted that Patrick had to try pretzel buns, and the two of them headed to the bakery section.

I’m not sure if the butcher is trained to help customers in ways they don’t expect or if this is a veiled form of upselling (Patrick did buy more expensive items). Or maybe it’s just the young butcher’s enthusiasm for cooking and eating well that motivates him. All I know is dinner that night was truly wonderful, and the evening was made even better by sharing the story about getting a little extra help from the butchering that goes into a product or service, we tend to value the product more. I’m all for raw honesty. How about you?