Stone House brings ‘neighborhood butcher’ to mountain area
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Butcher Griff Rogers cuts a beef loin into steaks at The Stone House Butcher and Provisions.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Ben Gardner, manager of the Stone House Butcher & Provisions stand next to a display case full of freshly prepared cuts of beef and pork.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Jeremy Critchfield, chef and partner at the Stone House Butcher and Provisions, stand in the cooler with a rack full of prime cuts of beef before they are cut into steaks and fillets.
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
The Stone House Butcher and Provisions at the Stone House Inn on the National Pike in Farmington offers high quality fresh-cut meets and food items for sale.
For Chalk Hill businessman Jeremy Critchfield, known by many simply as “Chef,” it’s all about quality.
“In a way, it’s a reintroduction to people on how good things can be,” Critchfield said, referring to his latest business venture, The Stone House Butcher and Provisions, where he operates as a chef and partner. “You don’t have to settle for what’s in every other supermarket case in America.”
“I cut meat and age it from a chef’s perspective — on how they’ll eat it and how it’ll taste,” he added. “I might trim more off and charge more per pound, but it’s a better eating experience.”
To do so, Critchfield enlisted the help of high-quality meat providers and farmers. Though there is an emphasis on “local,” it’s more about being “obsessed with good,” he said.
“Knowing it’s local, you can confirm that it’s good because it’s close. You know the people who raise it,” Critchfield said.
Among the products on display in the butcher shop are meats from Footprints Farm and Haine’s Farming & Custom Meat Processing LLC, both in Gibbon Glade. Critchfield also recently secured lamb from Jamison Farms in Latrobe and premium deli meats from Boar’s Head in Brooklyn, New York.
Critchfield also said he takes pride in using “equipment that served this community for decades” by using tables, grinders and saws from the former Work Farms along Route 21.
“What I didn’t want to do was try to fill the cases with the cheapest stuff. I wanted to fill it with the best stuff — things I’m really proud of,” Critchfield said. “Some people might shop here every day, others only once a month. And that’s OK.”
“I’ve had some people come in and get sticker shock at $25 per pound for a NY strip, but then they get home and cook it and eat it, and they usually see me again or call me just to say I could have charged more because it was worth every penny,” Critchfield said.
He also commented on the marbling in the T-bone steaks and fat bubbles in the NY strip, taking the quality and taste to a whole new level, he said.
“We want to be able to give the people what they want,” Critchfield remarked.
“If you can’t enjoy eating, what else can you enjoy,” he said with a laugh.
In addition to making quality products a priority, Critchfield also commented on the importance of building relationships with his clientele.
“The neighborhood local butcher staple has kind of disappeared from most of America,” he said. “We want to know what you like or want, and we hope to made recommendations and cut it however you want.”
“It’s not like going down a deli case at a local store where it’s wrapped in bright red and probably cut in some facility in another state and comes to them in a box,” he added. “I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but I think there’s a better way to do things.”
The opening of the butcher shop, located in the renovated garage next to the Stone House on Route 40, accompanies the business outlets under the Stone House name. Critchfield said the new business is a great addition and creates a “neat way” to make complete use of everything brought through their doors.
“Between the restaurant, Braddocks and the catering business, nothing goes to waste. We take pride in that,” he said, adding that a minimal amount of skin, fat and sinew is unusable. Even the bones can be used to sell for soup bones or used in the restaurant to make stocks and broths, he said.
As for what the future holds, Critchfield said he hopes to acquire a liquor license and to add sandwich options to the growing deli cases. Critchfield and his crew will also spend the slower winter months bottling his signature BBQ sauces to sell throughout the year.
“I think if we grow it, offer deli trays, grill packages, holiday gift packs, smoked meats, etc., we will be well received because it is good quality,” he said.