Meet Butcher Eric, the Pro Behind the Cut Room

It's Whitt. If you've ever looked through the glass into the cut room and watched somebody break down a side of beef like it was nothing, that's Eric - our butcher, and one of the first people who helped make Whitt's Place what it is. Time you met him properly.

Eric started butchering beef for us back when we were just getting going, and he's been at the block ever since. He helped design the cut room itself - where everything goes, how the work flows, what a butcher actually needs within arm's reach - and it shows every single day. The shop runs like a pro shop because a pro is running it. Eric's got twenty years in the butchering business, and that's the kind of experience you can't fake and can't rush.

A pro from the first cut

Watch him work and you'll see it right off. No wasted motion, no second-guessing - just a fellow who knows exactly where every cut on the animal is and how to get the most out of it. That's twenty years talking. He keeps the standards high back there, keeps the case full, and keeps the whole operation moving, and he makes the hard part look easy.

Always something new in the case

What really sets Eric apart is that he's never content to just do it the usual way. He's an innovator, and he's taken it on himself to come up with cuts and products you won't find at the average counter. He makes our bratwurst and our chorizo, and he's forever working up steaks a lot of folks have never heard of - the Merlot is a good example, a rich little cut most people walk right past because they don't know to ask for it. Come in often enough and there's always something new he's trying.

Into the modern era

He's pushed us forward, too. The dry-aging cooler in the shop is Eric's doing - an old butcher's craft done with modern equipment, holding whole cuts for a full 45 days until they come out more tender and a whole lot beefier. It's been going faster than he can age it. That's Eric all over: he respects the old ways and he's not the least bit afraid of the new ones.

Come see him

You'll know Eric the minute you meet him - big smile, big personality, and honestly you won't find anybody more excited about what they do. You'll often catch his son Aiden working right there alongside him, too. Next time you're in, look through into the cut room and say hey, and ask him what's new in the case. He'll be glad you did - and you'll likely walk out with a cut you've never tried.