Two Butchers Who Have No Beef With Each Other
By Lauren Jordanich and Kim Peretz
Thirty feet separate two different butchers at Essex Market. One has been operating on the Lower East Side for 21 years, and one opened in May. Despite all the sharp knives, there is no bad, meaty blood between the two shops.
A man wearing a bowler hat and a diamond stud in each ear stands behind a white marble countertop. He sells farm-to-table grass-fed beef from Romulus in upstate New York. The establishment’s name, “Essex Street Shambles,” is written in chalk on a blackboard, alongside the company’s Instagram handle.
Follow the white-tiled floors to another meat purveyor, “Luis Meat Market.” Six men in rumpled white hats and aprons, thin mustaches and dinky beards bustle around a jumble of flanks and shanks. An older worker’s potbelly rests on the counter as he holds a hunk of juicy pork with his bare hands, slashing through it with a boning knife. Employees converse in Spanish with regular customers, taking orders and asking about their days.
Although these two vendors are stationed side by side, they entice two separate types of customers. “Luis,” the provider of tradition and hospitality, appeals to those who have been shopping at the Essex Market every week for years. These multi-generational families are attracted to the continuity supplied by this neighborhood anchor.
On the other hand, “Essex Street Shambles” prides itself on selling “Natural, Non-GMO, no hormone, locally raised” products. Customers say they appreciate the freshly slaughtered grass-fed beef trucked in from 200 miles away. The two butchers say they can operate close to each other because they are targeting contrasting consumers.
“They have their meat,” says Ramona Rodriguez, co-owner of Luis Meat Market, when asked about her would-be competitor, “and I have mine.”
Last May, the Essex Street Market moved from an old building across the street into this sleeker, shinier location. The property is three times the size of the former and features wall-high windows, an upstairs eating space, and a simpler name, “Essex Market.” Twenty-one of the initial vendors of the Essex Street Market followed to the new edifice, including Luis Meat Market. These originals were met with 16 newbies, one of them being the modish Essex Street Shambles.
With these two butchers practically next door to each other, separated only by a few cases of salmon and trout, one would imagine men in blood-spattered aprons yelling and arguing. But it seems Luis Meat Market and Essex Street Shambles have avoided this fate, due to a difference in clientele.
For those in the community who speak Spanish, Luis Meat Market feels familiar and can remind them of their home country. Customers who have been around since Ramona and Luis Rodriguez began their business in 1997 feel at home with the couple, who moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic 45 years ago.
“It’s very good here,” said Benito Rosario, who is also from the Dominican Republic. He travels to the Lower East Side from his home in Brooklyn every week for what he described to be a “five stars” business.
“I’ve been dealing with them for years,” says Luisa, another longtime buyer. It seems most customers of Luis Meat Market have been doing the same.
Though not withstanding 21 years of tradition and familiarity, Essex Street Shambles attracts a community just as loyal as its competitor.
“We only buy meat from sources we like,” said Otis Kriegel, a customer who prefers to pursue an organic diet, with only grass-fed meat for him and his family. “I actually came here to compliment them on their chicken.”
Although Essex Street Shambles may not attract a circle of customers valuing convention, it attracts citizens, mostly millennials, who prefer the healthiest and most pure provisions. The company prides itself on being able to provide “all natural meat you can feel good about,” as said on the website.
The shop’s minimalistic style involves single slabs of meat spread inches apart on simple black trays. This design is charming to the type-A’s who seek a non-cluttered layout.
The relationship between these two establishments manifests a larger, more complex idea that revolves around the people and culture of New York City. The city is a hub for those whose families planted roots long ago, and also for more contemporary and affluent individuals embracing the sustainable lifestyle. Whether it be recently or 100 years ago, all these groups have discovered a home for themselves in New York City, and can now do the same at Essex Market.
