Vegan Deli The Butcher's Son Now Open in Berkeley!
2016 saw vegan butcher shop, The Herbivorous Butcher, open its doors in Minneapolis, Minnesota. With incredible reviews and a line-up during the first week, it seems the idea of vegan “butcher shops” wasn’t so crazy.
Now, The Butcher’s Son has opened up in Berkeley, California, which labels itself as a vegan deli and offers both meals as well as prepared vegan meats and cheeses for customers. While it was initially set to open up on Solano Avenue, a dispute with the landlord led to a postponed opening over on 1941 University Avenue on February 22.
Similar to The Herbivorous Butcher, the duo behind The Butcher’s Son are actually siblings-in this case they are Peter Fikaris and Christina Stobing. When asked about the name and the concept of the deli, Fikaris stated:
“The concept is that there’s the old generation of my father and grandfather—who were butchers, and they killed animals—and we’re a new generation, and we don’t need to do that anymore. I think we’re working hard to move into the mainstream market by making things more accessible. When you try our items, yes, they’re plant-based, and they’re healthier, but it doesn’t taste like a frozen veggie burger or a tofu scramble. They’re just as good as meat, but healthy, which is what a lot of people are looking for.”
And what exactly can guests expect to find at The Butcher’s Son? In terms of prepared meals, the menu offers options such as the fried mozzarella and meatball sandwich on garlic bread, the Philly cheesesteak, the pineapple teriyaki melt, the pulled pork sandwich with spicy coleslaw, and a lot more-including desserts and salads. In terms of meats and cheeses, customers can buy lemon rosemary chicken, smoked lox, cracked pepper turkey, oil cured feta, fresh dill havarti, almond ricotta and a lot more directly from the deli!
The Herbivorous Butcher, YamChops and now The Butcher’s Son have proved that there really can be such a thing as an “ethical butcher”-with delicious results!
Photo Credit: http://ww2.kqed.org/