Meet Jeff Cutshall | Owner of Custom Meats

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jeff Cutshall and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeff, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
We had been living in NYC and moved out to Connecticut. One night early in our life there I went to buy steaks for dinner and was surprised to find there wasn’t any place in town that sold high quality meats. I’ve always enjoyed cooking and the visual element of markets… the vibrancy of the colors, the different cuts of meat, seeing the product as “raw” as possible (ie, not plastic wrapped, frozen, or other), etc…. Ultimately, the best ingredients, highest purity, proximity to where it was raised or grown all contribute to the best tasting foods and anything you cook yourself always tastes better. Fast forward 5 years and we saw an opportunity to pursue the idea of bringing a butcher to our community at which point I was introduced to my partner, Tim, who was a fervent believer and practitioner in whole-animal butchery. We opened our first shop in 2017, and the community immediately rallied around the store’s philosophy, culture, and especially the quality of the product. Whole-animal butchery focuses on the entire animal as opposed to just boxed cuts. It’s more customer-interactive, and the joy in the business model is the ability to process the entire animal and educate your customer base on all the other cuts that come from an animal, not just those few you always see in a grocery store. This continuing education fosters great relationships we introduce our customers to new cuts of meat that may not be entirely familiar to them. It’s a throwback to how people used to shop for food, and I like to think that if you enjoy cooking, value quality, and appreciate knowing where your food comes from, then this concept should resonate with you. Finally, there’s the narrative of shopping locally that seems to be growing in importance. We are fortunate to have amazing food sources within an hour drive of Dallas that affords us the opportunity to work with passionate ranchers who raise their animals as ethically and naturally as is possible… yet with no sacrifice on superior taste. We moved to Dallas in 2019 and it seemed a natural extension to open the second Custom Meats here.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
While Connecticut seems to thrive solely on serving raw cuts, Dallas has required us to be a bit more flexible in our business model. Our core focus remains butchering whole animals in house, dry-aging premium cuts to enhance the flavor, and preparing a wide array of amazing house-made sausages, but we also recognized early on that the Dallas market values prepared foods. Whether it’s a quick sandwich at lunch or a grab-and-go meal for dinner, we’ve made those adjustments and continue to broaden our array of offerings. We now offer amazing Smoked Brisket and Pulled Pork sandwiches every weekday, courtesy of Chef Lance, and a planned meal starting on Thursday that consists of two custom sides that are either already prepared or quick to make, and 2 choices of meats which will require cooking. But we hope everyone shares our view that cooking a beautiful cut of meat too far in advance is neither fun nor the path to a great tasting, fresh meal.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We love Bistro 31, which reminds us of some of our favorite New York brasseries. Also, le Bilboquet is a favorite, again reminding us of when we frequently dined at the original location on East 63rd Street in NYC. Despite owning a butchery, we don’t dine very often at traditional steakhouses preferring instead an equally great steak, maybe with an au poivre sauce, at one of these other restaurants. Custom Meats is fortunate to work with the kitchen team at Ramble Room who we provide with ground beef and bacon for several of their menu items. It’s a great addition to the neighborhood and is always a fun spot to grab a drink at the bar or dinner with family or friends.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We’ve always known we can only be as successful as our partners. We prioritize our supplier relationships and make sure we deal with like-minded business people who share our store’s philosophy. Unsurprisingly, they almost always turn out to be great people in general, too. We were very deliberate in choosing whose meat and products we sell when we opened last year, but we’re also always looking to add more to our bench. Hal Stuart at Stuart Ranch (Beef), Mitch Holdeman, who recently acquired Rehoboth Ranch (Pork), Tanya Griffin of Hobbit Hoggit (Pork and Eggs), and Bunny at Windy Meadows Farm (Chickens) are just a few of the great teams with whom we’re lucky to work. They take great pride in the operations and product, and it shows in the quality, texture, and taste every time. Of course, none of this is possible without a great internal team. Custom Meats is lucky to employ a group that takes pride in their work, knows their job isn’t done until the job is done, and understands what the customer wants and provides them that service. Marco Hernandez comes from a long line of butchers in his family and has great experience working as one in the Park Cities. He’s incredibly knowledgeable, very talented, and has a wonderful attitude which resonates with our customers. We’ve recently added several more to the team: an amazing chef providing us the opportunity to offer prepared foods; another very talented butcher in his own right; and even a college student helping us out for the summer. We couldn’t ask for better chemistry between them all.

Website: www.custommeatsbutcher.com

Instagram: @custommeatsdallas

Facebook: Custom Meats Dallas

Image Credits
Mackenzie Mangin