What these vegan butchers in Minneapolis have figured out that the fake-meat giants can’t
Move over, Beyond Meat and Impossible: The most innovative plant-based meat company is Herbivorous Butcher.
The butcher shop on First Avenue in Minneapolis is not currently fit for customer eyes. Although it’s finally on the brink of reopening after 15 pandemic months of curbside pickup, at the moment, this meatopia is set up for utility, not presentation. Even so, the controlled chaos of the display case is still overwhelming. Plump steaks rub up against spice-speckled stalks of pepperoni and Flintstones-size slabs of maple-glazed bacon, all of it loosely stacked in plastic buckets for easy grabbing. Tins of meatloaf glint with pooling red oil, staining the corners, right near towering tubs of juicy shredded chicken and brown paper-wrapped cylinders of Italian cold-cut sandwich. For the average herbivore, walking into America’s first vegan butcher shop, with its bizarro-world banquet of forbidden meats and cheeses—magically rendered not only edible but delightful—is like walking into a kitchen made of dreams.