1 May 2010

NOT JUST ANY BUTCHER

There are cutting edge establishments alongside traditional temples of eating, and ideas that are innovative and so out there that you might well think you have arrived in the future. Sydney, a city with a population equal to the total of New Zealand affords enormous opportunity for anyone who is prepared to take a risk.

The image above is the bronze door handle of Victor Churchill, a butchery store at 132 Queen St, Woollahra. A string of sausages to grab as you enter the theatre -like creation of Victor Puharich who heads a $40 million meat empire. He sources premier beef, game, poultry and offal, supplying the very best Kurabota pork, Glenloth Free Range chicken, 300 day Black Angus beef, New Zealand venison and 15 cuts of Blackmore Full Blood Wagyu beef to almost 80% of the top rated restaurants in Sydney, Melbourne and beyond.

The store, which opened about eight months ago, is dramatically designed to showcase the very best meat, poultry, charcuterie and patisserie. Sheer glass walls drop from the ceiling onto the stunning Calacatta marble stone floor, encasing butchers at work who may, in full view and spotlighted in true stage type lighting, be threading chicken skewers, tying rolls of stuffed veal or creating delicious sausages.

To the back there's a full kitchen where chefs create condiments, stocks, sauces, terrines, ready to eat dishes like braised beef cheeks, Coq au Vin and much more. And enticing aromas fill the store as dressed chickens and well- marinated meats cook on a state of the art French rotisserie.

If only I lived a little closer. This is meat heaven.