More Than a Meating Place

The PubScout and the Missus check out The Butcher’s Market in Wilmington.

I recall the golden words of Zeke, an ancient barroom sage of my early tavern days, from whom I learned much just by listening. He was an expert on many things, including marriage, since he had made the trek down the aisle at least four times. But the experiences taught him valuable lessons.

His main advice about marriage, however, was concise and on target: A woman marries a man thinking she can change him — and she can’t. A man marries a woman hoping she’ll never change — and she does.

Brilliant. And true.

Consider the behavior of my missus while we were dating way back in the Middle Ages. More than once she allowed that she loved the smell of my cigars because they brought back wonderful memories of her youth in Ybor City, Tampa, where her relatives all worked in the cigar industry.

She would also frequently join me for midnight runs to a NJ White Castle (Google the name if you don’t know it), famous for their rat burgers, and together we would savor that distinctive taste with three or four “rats” and maybe a few double cheeseburgers besides.

Then we got married.

For the past 40 years, the only thing that grosses her out more than the thought of a rat burger is the smell of my cigar.

Because, somehow or other, besides becoming an anti-cigar zealot, she fully embraced vegetarianism. She does eat seafood, so I think that makes her a Presbyterian, or something like that. But the point is, she changed; I didn’t.

So it was with a wary eye that I let her accompany me to ILM and a place called The Butcher’s Market, where I planned to visit my buddy Etienne Mercier, who cuts meat for the place.

Etienne — better known as Steve — is the picture of the quintessential butcher. Well over 6 feet tall and a mountain of a man, he cuts a most imposing presence. A master with the knife and possessing the touch of a neurosurgeon, Steve can produce magnificent cuts of any kind of meat the Butcher’s Market carries.

And that covers a lot of meat, all of which is as fresh as fresh can be, and beautiful to behold (unless you’re a Presbyterian) — as well as a whole host of other items in this remarkable store. Sausages, spices and rubs galore — some disguised as hand grenades, duck, goose, pheasant, glass-bottled milk, top-shelf craft soda from Wisconsin like Dr. Sprecher, boutique Carolina coffees, wine, a very impressive beer selection, grilling tools and even seafood for the Presbyterians.

Steve walked me over to one cooler he called his “exotics.”

By that he meant Bison Hot Dogs, Veal Sweetbread, Wild Boar Stew Meat, Goat, Kangaroo and even those precious delectables beloved by many in the backwoods — Rocky Mountain Oysters — which, apparently, are consumable in ANY month, with or without an “R.” Steve did not disclose how those delicacies are, um, “harvested,” but he had them.

There is a full produce section with vegetables and fruits and even a section with prepared meals that just need heating. And many of those are vegetarian-friendly.

As a child, my Mom got her groceries from the grocery store next door, and, fortunately, the owner of the store was a woman who was also a master butcher. So she took care of our meat needs. The missus shared that in her childhood, her mother got groceries from a grocery store, but her family’s meat needs were satisfied by visiting a butcher shop.

I am quite sure that neither hers nor the one next door to me could offer what The Butcher’s Market offers. Neither could any “old-time” butcher store that any of you may have frequented.

A click on the main Butcher’s Market website reveals that there are currently six locations including Wilmington, with a seventh opening in Porter’s Neck in December 2024. The company bills itself as “Your Neighborhood Butcher and Specialty Grocer,” an understatement if ever there was one.

So tonight I’m making a big, juicy homemade hamburger from the ground beef I scored today at The Butcher’s Market. On Tuesday, the ground beef is 50% off.

And when I’m done, I may just celebrate some great meat at a discount with a cigar.

Though she wouldn’t have complained 40 years ago, the missus may give me some grief.

Those Presbyterians can be feisty. But my couch is pretty comfortable.

Want to go?
The Butcher’s Market
4512 Oleander Drive, Suite 800, Wilmington
(910) 399-7398
thebutchersmarkets.com