Vegetable/Produce Butchers?

[natasha1270]

Is this just a New York thing or are vegetable butchers coming soon to a store near you? Apparently, there are a couple of stores in New York already where you bring your produce to the in store counter and they will prep it to your specifications. I think it's an interesting extension of pre-chopped produce that you already do see in stores. From what I've read there does seem to be a service charge.

 

http://www.thekitchn.com/whole-foods-new-feature-is-a-meal-prepper-s-dream-241298

 

 

[Anna N]

Really?  Really?   Why am I even doubting?

[chromedome]

It's actually one of the hot culinary trends, right now (the things I learn while working....). 

[gfweb]

OK.  Tourne this sack of potatoes for me.

[MelissaH]

Some of the larger Wegmans stores will do this, for a price. I can see where this might be useful if you're either really pressed for time or if you have physical limitations.

[Anna N]

Even I with my physical limitations, which on some days are quite serious, find this a bridge too far. I have implements and instruments in my kitchen which will spiralize, chop, grate, slice,  pulverize even. But I have never claimed to know everything.   Others may have physical limitations which make this service a godsend. I understand that in some New York apartments there is barely room in the kitchen to slice a lemon so I can see some sort of appeal there.  But even that makes little sense. But if they can tourne my potatoes and carrots and perhaps carve my mushrooms  I might be tempted. 

Edited February 8, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[natasha1270]

I actually enjoy prepping more than cooking but having someone else deal with butternut and other hard squashes seems awfully tempting.

[btbyrd]

11 minutes ago, natasha1270 said:

I actually enjoy prepping more than cooking but having someone else deal with butternut and other hard squashes seems awfully tempting.

 

I feel you there, but luckily most of my local markets carry butternut squash that's been cut up already. It's pretty much the only thing I'll buy pre-cut.

[natasha1270]

Yes, that pre-cut squash is definitely worth it but who knows how long ago it was prepped?

 

This concept is also interesting from a job creation perspective. I have no restaurant industry experience but I wonder how the grocery compensation/benefits/hours would compare.

[Toliver]

Okay, I confess: I buy pre-trimmed radishes from my Walmart Neighborhood Grocery store. They come about 30-36 in a bag. No greens, no roots. Just the radishes. I do wash them again when I get home and I do re-trim the cut ends before consuming them. They cost about $1.50US a bag and I thought they were worth that price. 

But paying someone else to prep an onion or a bunch of celery? Uh, no thanks. I'm a grown-ass adult and can do it myself. 

[Duvel]

I find this intriguing ... it's a great idea for one of these days when your maid has a free day, while your cook is on sick leave.

[Anna N]

2 minutes ago, Duvel said:

I find this intriguing ... it's a great idea for one of these days when your maid has a free day, while your cook is on sick leave.

 I always ask my butler to take up the slack.

[Duvel]

2 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 I always ask my butler to take up the slack.

You lucky girl - you have better personnel than me. If both cook and maid are absent, George struggles even to prepare my morning Martini in time. I might need to let him go ...

[chromedome]

34 minutes ago, natasha1270 said:

Yes, that pre-cut squash is definitely worth it but who knows how long ago it was prepped?

 

This concept is also interesting from a job creation perspective. I have no restaurant industry experience but I wonder how the grocery compensation/benefits/hours would compare.

I see them pre-packaged here like spring mix, rather than done in-store as the prepared salads and fruit trays are. I'd assumed it was done mechanically, but there may indeed be large squash-processing sweatshops. I honestly don't know. 

 

Food-prep staff typically make minimum wage or barely over, in either case, except in areas where living costs are exceptionally high. 

[rotuts]

this VegButch is interesting

 

however i find this more so :

 

 

 

 

Ive posted about this before.  Ive only seen this in one store that's fairly high end in a town 2 minutes E. of mine.  a local family owned cchain

 

RocheBros.

 

these items are made fresh each day in store w ion store ingredients.  most of the veg you micro.  the meatier things go in the oven.

 

I don't have children , but i worked long hours , of which I mostly enjoyed. except for the rare idiot I had to deal with , politely of course.

 

I always cooked coming home.  I grilled fish more often than not.  W/O children you can eat later.  Get mildly ' hydrated '  on the spot

 

but if I could afford the above , and back then Im sure i could , there is something to be said about sitting down as a family  

 

large or small, eating something cooked in your own home or apartment.

 

there there is the Anticipation , there is the Fluid Therapy , and there is the very important intangible of the Aromas  wafting from

 

the Mirco and the Oven.

 

if WholeFoods does well w a VegB , OK.  they would do better to study the above and move in that direction.

 

So  do you WholeFoods ?  ( I don't )  no matter   

 

anybody who spies a VegB at WF  please see if they have the above.

[cakewalk]

I duuno, this whole thing seems made for people who have more money than brains. I suppose there's no shortage. Pre-cut veggies can be a worthwhile thing for many reasons, as time savers and for people who have difficulty chopping, to name only two. But the pretentiousness of the title (Vegetable Butcher? Puh-leeze. Butchering an animal is a serious craft, some might say an art.) plus the "butchered to order" aspect of this make me wonder who this is geared to. I just can't imagine people standing on line waiting for the "butcher" to cut up their carrots and parsnips so they can go home and make soup. 

[rotuts]

@cakewalk  

 

I agree with much of what you say

 

"   more money than brains "

 

currently where I live " Those Who are required to serve "  are a bit like that

 

I do agree that the name of the VegButch is , well , what it is.

 

all advertising is a bit of Shake and Bake with many bits of Smoke and Mirrors.

 

we know this.   well the vast majority here does

 

so worry Nought !

 

the VegButch has something to do !

[scubadoo97]

Takes the fun out of it.   Ok I know I'm not the norm.   I love a knife in hand and a table full of produce 

[BonVivant]

I often do intense thinking whilst I slice/chop/peel. I find preparing a meal very therapeutic and relaxing.

Besides, I don't like the way someone else slices my vegs!

[Toliver]

5 hours ago, rotuts said:

Ive posted about this before.  Ive only seen this in one store that's fairly high end in a town 2 minutes E. of mine.  a local family owned cchain

 

RocheBros.

 

these items are made fresh each day in store w ion store ingredients.  most of the veg you micro.  the meatier things go in the oven.

 

I don't have children , but i worked long hours , of which I mostly enjoyed. except for the rare idiot I had to deal with , politely of course.

 

I always cooked coming home.  I grilled fish more often than not.  W/O children you can eat later.  Get mildly ' hydrated '  on the spot

 

but if I could afford the above , and back then Im sure i could , there is something to be said about sitting down as a family  

 

large or small, eating something cooked in your own home or apartment.

 

there there is the Anticipation , there is the Fluid Therapy , and there is the very important intangible of the Aromas  wafting from

 

the Mirco and the Oven.

 

if WholeFoods does well w a VegB , OK.  they would do better to study the above and move in that direction.

 

So  do you WholeFoods ?  ( I don't )  no matter   

 

anybody who spies a VegB at WF  please see if they have the above.

I'm a suspicious sort and figure these convenient veggies-paks or meat-paks contain items that were on their last legs, so to speak, and this is the store's way of trying to eke out a few cents more from something that might go in the trash the next day. If you have faith in the business owners/managers, then all the more power to you. 

I'm usually an optimist (or at least I hope I am! ) but when it comes to grocery stores, I enter the store assuming is being run by PT Barnum and his ilk which makes me a wary customer whose money won't be parted with easily.

 

Regarding the Veggie Butchers, is the fee based on weight? I can see a situation where if I was making a couple hundred lumpia or egg rolls for a huge family gathering, having someone else do the prep work on the veggies would be a positive thing.

And for that veggie butcher fee do I get to critique their work?  "You trimmed too much off of my beets. I'm paying you less money because of that."   As if I would ever buy beets...

[quiet1]

I might use such a service for certain things - onions bother me a lot so when I had psoriasis near my eyelashes I used to ask family or friends to chop a bunch of onions for me and I kept them in the freezer so I could use them as I needed. Worked fine for cooking with. (Psoriasis = raw skin, raw skin + tears = owwwwwwwwww.)

[boilsover]

10 hours ago, Anna N said:

Even I with my physical limitations, which on some days are quite serious, find this a bridge too far.

 

 

There I was, bone tired as usual, after another hard day slaughtering kale. The killfloor still ran with their juice and my sweat, the cores having been barreled and trucked to the rendering plant.  Wednesdays were always hard, but I dreaded Thursdays more, because it meant broccoli rabe.  As I left the plant, I saw how many rabe there were milling and bawling in the pens...  How many veggie offal racks would I fill tomorrow? Would they struggle?  Would I recognize any next week when it came time to break the quarters down and bone the florets for brocburger?

 

The life of a veggie butcher--it takes a soul toll, ya know?

Edited February 9, 2017 by boilsover (log)

[cakewalk]

2 hours ago, quiet1 said:

I might use such a service for certain things - onions bother me a lot so when I had psoriasis near my eyelashes I used to ask family or friends to chop a bunch of onions for me and I kept them in the freezer so I could use them as I needed. Worked fine for cooking with. (Psoriasis = raw skin, raw skin + tears = owwwwwwwwww.)

Do you think you'd prefer a "vegetable butcher" rather than buy a package of pre-sliced vegetables, whether it's onions or anything else? Do you think freshness is an issue? Plenty of veggies in the market (not pre-sliced) are not so fresh or nice looking, in which case I just don't buy them. I'm just trying to see the reasoning behind a vegetable butcher as opposed to packages of pre-sliced vegetables.

[quiet1]

7 minutes ago, cakewalk said:

Do you think you'd prefer a "vegetable butcher" rather than buy a package of pre-sliced vegetables, whether it's onions or anything else? Do you think freshness is an issue? Plenty of veggies in the market (not pre-sliced) are not so fresh or nice looking, in which case I just don't buy them. I'm just trying to see the reasoning behind a vegetable butcher as opposed to packages of pre-sliced vegetables.

 

The benefit to a cut-to-order service would be I could specify what I needed for what I had planned. Slices, fine dice, etc. For general purpose these days I do buy the pre-chopped sometimes, although my skin is much better so usually I chop my own as I need them unless I'm doing a huge batch of something.

 

As far as freshness, if you're calling yourself a vegetable butcher I'd better be able to pick out exactly what vegetables I want you to chop for me, same as I'd be able to select specific pieces of meat at the butcher and have it ground.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

11 hours ago, rotuts said:

this VegButch is interesting

 

however i find this more so :

 

 

 

 

Ive posted about this before.  Ive only seen this in one store that's fairly high end in a town 2 minutes E. of mine.  a local family owned cchain

 

RocheBros.

 

these items are made fresh each day in store w ion store ingredients.  most of the veg you micro.  the meatier things go in the oven.

 

I don't have children , but i worked long hours , of which I mostly enjoyed. except for the rare idiot I had to deal with , politely of course.

 

I always cooked coming home.  I grilled fish more often than not.  W/O children you can eat later.  Get mildly ' hydrated '  on the spot

 

but if I could afford the above , and back then Im sure i could , there is something to be said about sitting down as a family  

 

large or small, eating something cooked in your own home or apartment.

 

there there is the Anticipation , there is the Fluid Therapy , and there is the very important intangible of the Aromas  wafting from

 

the Mirco and the Oven.

 

if WholeFoods does well w a VegB , OK.  they would do better to study the above and move in that direction.

 

So  do you WholeFoods ?  ( I don't )  no matter   

 

anybody who spies a VegB at WF  please see if they have the above.

 

If I understood this I would "like" it.