Third-generation butcher Stephen Alexander knows this and has staked his reputation on the relationships he maintains with small family farms across Ontario. In the farm-to-fork era, a butcher shop is only as good as the producers that supply it. And during grilling season, there’s no greater crowd-pleaser than the house-ground, dry-aged burger patties, simply seasoned yet optimized for bun-based perfection. Sanagan’s also stocks magnificent meat pies, sausages, Scotch eggs and a larder’s worth of spice rubs and condiments. Sanagan knows the age at which the heritage Tamworth hogs he stocks are slaughtered, and the exact size of the Northumberland County acreage his 100 per cent grass-fed cattle graze on. Everything-from lamb neck and bavette steaks to beef tongue (and cheek)-is labelled with the farm from which it was sourced. What hasn’t changed is Sanagan’s dedication to transparency. Today, Sanagan’s remains top-of-mind for nose-to-tail connoisseurs and weekend-warrior rib-eye grillers, and its reach now includes a satellite store in Little India. Yet by 2012, his business was booming, and he moved into the (much larger) European Quality Meats and Sausages space a few steps east on Baldwin, remaking the heart of the market. When Peter Sanagan opened his tiny Kensington butcher shop in 2009, he faced competition from older, bigger establishments that dominated the marketplace. All the more reason to source those precious quantities from these best-in-class butcher shops, their display cases brimming with well-marbled hand-cut rib-eyes, freshly stuffed sausages, Frenched lamb racks, whole marinated chickens in a universe of flavours, and out-there delicacies-crocodile sliders, anyone? Here, our picks for the city’s best places to shop for your next Sunday supper or barbecue session- the first in a 10-part series on the city’s 100 best food shops. Meat in moderation is sound advice not only for the health of our hearts, but for the environment as well.
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