Cleaning Guide – Lake House Lower

In the small rural town of Westport is a modest but bustling butcher shop called Westport Fine Meats. Its owners, Joe, a seasoned chef and butcher, and his wife Shelly, also a chef, decided to open the shop with a simple but powerful mission: to bring quality, not quantity, to the community. Their journey to this business wasn’t just a career choice—it was a homecoming.

After years spent catering, cutting, and cooking in different places, Joe and Shelly opted to balance work with life, to be close to their boys, who could bike to the shop after school. The shop, conveniently located in the heart of town, became an extension of their home and lifestyle. As Joe often says, “We’re close to home, and that’s what makes all the difference.”

The philosophy behind Westport Fine Meats is refreshingly simple: offer the best, every time. The shop doesn’t just stock meat—it curates it. From Joe’s  years in the food industry, he knows that not all meats are created equal. His discerning eye only accepts the highest grade: AAA Angus or Hereford beef, hung for at least 35 days and sourced from Canadian farms. “I won’t accept anything less than that,” he insists. It’s about cutting out the middleman, rejecting the mass-market approach, and delivering quality products that people have been craving but couldn’t find elsewhere.

Walking into their shop, customers are greeted with cuts of meat they’d never see in a typical butcher’s display. “If you’re looking for the best, you’ve got to go with the Delmonico, Joe proudly declares. But in their shop, the Delmonico is more than just a cut of steak. The butcher has perfected his own version of the Holy Grail: the spinalis dorsi, a tender piece of meat carefully rolled into a pinwheel and served as the pinnacle of what the shop has to offer.

For those who want something a bit more extravagant, there’s always the center cut from the Chateaubriand, a tenderloin filet mignon so exceptional that the butcher claims it would bring tears to even Gordon Ramsey’s eyes. “He wouldn’t know what to do with it,” Joe chuckles, knowing full well that his expertly cut meats speak for themselves.

But Westport Fine Meats isn’t just about beef. The shop offers an array of fowl, from pheasant to quail, and occasionally, lamb, though that’s harder to come by. “When I get lamb, it goes out the door as fast as I can get it,” Joe says. “There’s just not enough around here.” Their meats are in such high demand that people come from miles away to stock up before heading off to their summer cottages. Customers from as far as Pennsylvania and Tennessee have made the pilgrimage to Westport to taste what the shop has to offer.

Westport Fine Meats owners Joe and Shelly

Even though their reputation extends beyond the borders of Westport, Joe and Shelly’s  hearts remain firmly rooted in his community. Joe’s faith, which he quietly mentions at the end of conversations, guides his life and his business. “Go with God,” he often says, leaving his customers with not just fine meats, but a sense of peace and purpose.

Westport Fine Meats isn’t just a butcher shop—it’s a testament to what happens when you take pride in your work, stay true to your roots, and deliver the best of what you know to your community.

Visit Westport Fine Meats at https://www.westportfinemeats.com. You can also check out their Facebook.