It’s a past art that is making a big comeback around Denver and the country. I’m talking about the art of butchering. In days of old a great butcher shop would have a wide selection of different cuts of meats, from different animals, in glass cases and hanging along the walls of a, usually, small standalone storefront. The bass of a large knife slamming against the chopping block echoing throughout the store as the butcher deftly cuts down an animal into the perfect cuts of meat to take home and cook. In my head I see a green and white striped awning over the window outside with large chunks of meat for all to see, a woman behind the counter running a register and taking orders and a man with white hair handling the aforementioned large knife whose sound is rattling around in my head. This art almost became extinct with the introduction of mega stores such as Walmart and chain grocery stores, but times they are a-changin’. I guess, more to the point, they are a-changin’ back and Western Daughters Butcher Shoppe, headed by Kate Kavanaugh, is leading the way in the metro Denver area. Kavanaugh, with the help of Josh Curtiss, Janice Schindler and Tyler Kanaval, has two thriving shops, one in LoHi off of Tejon St. and one inside The Source off of Brighton St. in RiNo. In keeping with her Irish roots and her 125 year family tradition, Western Daughters sources and harvests all of their animals within 150 miles of the city. It’s this attention to detail, and “looking beyond the boundaries of conventional meat, ensuring that the animals are raised and butchered with transparency with a mind towards restorative practices”, that really makes the butcher shop stand out among its peers.
