Butchery and Charcuterie Rising

My path of residence traveled from college to downtown Chicago (Wicker Park then Andersonville), out west to Oregon (Portland, Salem, Corvallis), and—with the impending birth of my first son—back to the western suburbs of Chicago where I grew up for the house, minivan, 2.3 kids route (the desire for general safety, solid schools and a backyard for gardening all dissipated our thoughts settling back in the city…). All in all, since the point of leaving college, a pretty lively trek. But I wasn't particularly keen on shaking all points of food-centric culture behind. After all, the food industry was my home, and I had some requisite parameters for my suburb of choice.

Downers Grove—within walking distance to the downtown area—was eventually tapped as the winner. Right in the old downtown area, it featured a microbrewery, several decent restaurants and taverns, an old movie theater (opened in 1928, the second in the country outfitted for "talkies"), an independent ice cream shop, a traditional Polish bakery (that makes great doughnuts…), an artisan candy maker, and even a butcher. I could call this 'burb home. (And it was 10 minutes away from grandparents…)

Alas, a couple of years ago, that butcher shop closed down. And when a prominent corner retail storefront recently closed shop on the main drag in downtown, I opined to my wife that it would make a great spot for a butcher. In the years (almost a decade now) since moving to Downers Grove, we've added specialty shops for olive oil, tea, cigars and spices to the mix, as well as a high-end grocer with a decent (but not thorough) meat department and deli, and even a couple of wine bars, to the downtown area. But the absence of a true butcher lingers…