Local Foods Chicago

Hadn't seen this in another thread (which surprised me). Opening today (6/30). Exciting concept - looking forward to checking it out:

http://localfoods.com/

1427 W. Willow
Chicago, IL 60642
312-432-6575

There were about 150-200 people waiting to get in. The shops kept up really well with the demand for samples. I was most impressed by a salad put out by La Sirena Clandestina. I'm going to guess that it was kale, most certainly radishes, shallots I believe and a creamy, spicy dressing that was unexpectedly fantastic. The counter people were very accommodating and generous. It will be fun to go back after the hub-bub dies down and explore a little more thoroughly.

FYI, Local Foods has started a 1/2 price produce program for the second Monday of each month (so this month's is 3/14). If for nothing else being able to procure the Mighty Vine tomatoes at 1/2 price is a great option. From the email I received about produce to expect at this time of year:

Customer Appreciation Day
(Wholesale Monday)
3/14 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM

Start the countdown to Customer Appreciation Day! On the second Monday of each month (dates subject to change) we offer you a 50 percent discount on all produce as a way to show our appreciation for your patronage. Mark down the 14th as the day to stock up on local favorites like:
Chicago Indoor Garden clover sprouts
Hidden Springs cabbage
Growing Power lettuce
Kitchen Farms parsnips
MightyVine tomatoes
River Valley mushrooms

LTH,

Surprised not to see more posts about Local Foods and/or Stock Cafe in Local Foods. I love Butcher & Larder as much, if not more, than the next food obsessed person, but Stock Cafe is putting out seriously delicious meals, at a reasonable for provenance/location, on a daily basis.

Nitro cold press coffee


BLT w/Mighty Vine tomatoes, bacon and greens. Beef Fat Potatoes.


Stock Cafe menu, 4.20


Local Foods, Butcher & Larder, Stock Cafe, Count me a Fan!

I stopped at Local Foods today to pick up a brisket from B&L, some provisions, and the excellent roast beef sandwich from Stock Cafe. Wonderful place.

Grabbed a ribeye from the Butcher and Larder (which turned out perfectly). I had a great experience at the shop. Butchers were not only friendly and helpful, they were also hands on with the product, asking me about the exact specifications of my order. I'll be headed here the next time I need my once or twice-annual steak.

Have had terrific success at Local Foods lately - ramps, some great red meat, pork chops, and other assorted veggies. Generally, I find the prices to be fair considering the quality.

One question I have is in regard to the pork chops at Butcher and Larder. I have supported them since the first day they opened back on Milwaukee. And prior to that -Mado.

I understand this is about the best pork I can get around here. However, we got two pork chops a couple weeks back that were a total of 3lbs at $13/lb. They were absolutely beautiful with great flavor. I imagine this is the perfect pork chop.

However, all said and done I have to imagine the fat accounted for maybe 30-40% of it. Do you all have the fat trimmed? If you do, is that trimming still included in the price?

I guess this isn't a rant about B&L but more me thinking aloud about do people really eat all that fat? Take out the bone weight and fat weight and I would be curious to see what % of the 3lbs was actual meat.

I bought some chops from them at the previous B&L location and loved them, and yes, there was a wicked layer of fat on the outside. I trimmed it myself and rendered them down and fried potatoes in the liquid fat. I then diced the remnants of fat and further fried those for some cook's treats. Absurdly tasty--such wonderful pork. Not a good value if all you're interested in is muscle, certainly, but when it tastes that good, use it all. My bet is they weigh before they trim it and charge for the whole thing--that seems normal to me.

jpeac2 wrote:Have had terrific success at Local Foods lately - ramps, some great red meat, pork chops, and other assorted veggies. Generally, I find the prices to be fair considering the quality.

One question I have is in regard to the pork chops at Butcher and Larder. I have supported them since the first day they opened back on Milwaukee. And prior to that -Mado.

I understand this is about the best pork I can get around here. However, we got two pork chops a couple weeks back that were a total of 3lbs at $13/lb. They were absolutely beautiful with great flavor. I imagine this is the perfect pork chop.

However, all said and done I have to imagine the fat accounted for maybe 30-40% of it. Do you all have the fat trimmed? If you do, is that trimming still included in the price?

I guess this isn't a rant about B&L but more me thinking aloud about do people really eat all that fat? Take out the bone weight and fat weight and I would be curious to see what % of the 3lbs was actual meat.

Some people love it, some people hate it. I had the pork chop once at Nightwood and wrote in that thread how I hated all of the seemingly raw fat. But that's the way they (and many others) prepare the dish. My preference is to cook the pork slowly at first to render as much of the fat as possible, then char/sear as much of the fat as possible at the end of cooking. If properly rendered/charred/seasoned, I enjoy it.

I notice pasties listed on that menu, albeit, strange ones. Any input about that menu item served here?

Puckjam wrote:I notice pasties listed on that menu, albeit, strange ones. Any input about that menu item served here?

I had one a while back (don't remember which variety) and enjoyed it very much.

Our family thinks the pasties are extraordinary - just an amazing depth of flavor in the perfectly textured crusts, and the fillings are so savory!

jpeac2 wrote:However, all said and done I have to imagine the fat accounted for maybe 30-40% of it. Do you all have the fat trimmed? If you do, is that trimming still included in the price?

All butchers are going to charge on the untrimmed price. Most (and certainly B&L) will trim it for you if you ask - after weighing. As others have suggested there's lots to be done with that fat, and given the quality/source of the animals that B&L procures that's some of the best fat you can get.

Kman wrote:

jpeac2 wrote:However, all said and done I have to imagine the fat accounted for maybe 30-40% of it. Do you all have the fat trimmed? If you do, is that trimming still included in the price?

All butchers are going to charge on the untrimmed price. Most (and certainly B&L) will trim it for you if you ask - after weighing. As others have suggested there's lots to be done with that fat, and given the quality/source of the animals that B&L procures that's some of the best fat you can get.

actually, i bought a roast recently at the butcher and larder, and they trimmed off quite a bit of fat before weighing it.....

Ryan here from Local Foods (and long-ish time LTH lurker). Just wanted to stop by and say thanks for this thread and your support. And thanks G Wiv for swinging by the other day. That nitro coffee IS awesome. Trying to figure out a way to get that nitro draft iced latte from la colombe over here too someday...

Re: pork chops... we'll cut em the way that you want before we charge you, just let Rob and the team know. Of course, these hogs (largely from la pyror farm here in IL) naturally have a good balance of fat, which isn't everyones thing. Rob did a demo on how he cooks a pork chop in his kitchen that you might be interested in. Just enough cooking to render - per your comment BR. https://www.eatmorsel.com/roblevitt/755-how-a-butcher-cooks-a-big-fatty-pork-chop

I'd love to know more about what you think about the store and your experiences.

Ryan

ps. in case you didn't know...the idea behind Local Foods is to make the best tasting Midwestern ingredients available on an everyday basis. Most of the products in the store are the same products we've been bringing in from midwestern farms and distributing to the best restaurants (lula, monteverde, etc) around Chicago for the past three years.

Ryan -

Thanks for chiming in on the thread!

I for one love the store and try to get in frequently. Keep up the great work!

Any chance you all could bring in any Lake Michigan fish? So hard to find any but last summer had some amazing whitefish and trout and felt they could find a place on your shelves. Actually, I know there isn't a lot of commercial fishing going on in the lake but we bought it from one of the guys who has the ability to do that up on Beaver Island. Would be a fun story if you could figure out how to get a supply from that guy to stock (at least sometimes) the shelves.









Photo credit goes to a buddy of mine.

Thanks for the kind words.

We'd be down for that. If you have the details on the sourcing, feel free to post or message me. Those are great pics

It's tough to find top notch stuff seafood from around here. We partnered up with Wixter (which isn't local, yes) since they maintain direct sourcing relationships and put quality and ethics high on the list. Deep frozen scallops, shrimp, salmon, cod, and the greatest crab legs EVER.