RVA Butcher making it in the Big City

Written by Matt Sadler on May 21, 2009 – 10:51 am -

I met Brent Young about 2 years ago at Belmont Butchery. Brent amazed me with his creativity. His creations were anywhere from amazing to toxic. Last summer, Brent took off to Brooklyn and was quickly brought on to work at one of Brooklyn’s thriving restaurants- Diner. More recently, the owners opened a butcher shop called Marlow & Daughters and Brent has been able to take his time in Richmond and put it to good use. Brent was kind enough to take some time to answer some questions

Would you mind giving us the story about your cooking journey? How did you get here?
I started cooking in restaurants since high school. It was a little pizza place with a garden out back and we grew our own vegetables, it was great. Then I mistakenly got a liberal arts degree and realized that I was better off cooking than trying to teach. when i wanted to take cooking seriously, I dropped out of my masters program and started working at the Belmont Butchery with Chris Mattera. I was looking at butchering as part of my culinary education, however it has taken off in the past two years and I’m still able to learn new things everyday.

What dish/recipe/creation are you most proud of?
Jalapeno & Cheddar Sausage: Roasted Jalapenos, Cracker Barrel Cheddar, Texas Pete Hot Sauce, and Budweiser. If you don’t like these things, I don’t like you.
Describe what it is like to work for one of the more well-known restaurateurs in NY?
It’s just like any other respectable cooking job: You get ground to the bone. The best thing about working for Diner is the seasonal menu. We don’t lie about where things are coming from, or try to sway the seasons. Working garde manger last summer the menu changed every single day. It was wildly educational, and a hell of a lot of prep work. Other than that, the free bottles of Santana DVX and white Clydesdales we all get are pretty cool.
What’s the future? Charcutterie or cooking?
I’m actually just waiting to get discovered in the butcher shop. I try to sing and dance as much as possible in the shop, just in case some broadway producer happens to stop by. Recently been doing a lot of Lion King numbers. If that doesn’t work out, I think I’ll keep cutting animals for the next couple years… until i start tap dancing.

Posted in Abroad, Interview | 1 Comment »

One Comment to “RVA Butcher making it in the Big City”

  1. vanessa Says:
    May 27th, 2009 at 2:33 pm

    Okay, butcher man…where do you think I could get some sweetbreads…. I am feeling brave (not brave to eat them, brave to make them.)

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