Your right we need a Butcher
Was there a small market in the west end of Portland?
I think they moved from east end near Fore Street. They were a father son team I think.
They had a pretty good meat dept. with butcher on duty.

FRESH APPROACH ON BRACKETT ST HAS EXCELLENT CUTS OF MEAT. I'M NOT SURE HOW YOU DEFINE BUTCHER, BUT THE BEARDED GUY IS WELL VERSED IN ALL THINGS FLESH AND HAS BUTTERFLY'D A CHICKEN BREAST FOR ME. GREAT SELECTION TOO AND A CONSISTENT CLIENTELE THAT ENSURES FRESHNESS. FYI.

Try Dave's Meat Market on 302 in Windham.

I've wondered about Dave's Meat Market in Windham. Is it the same one that handles the butchering for all of the Cumberland farms? I will definitely check it out. I'll also go to Fresh Approach. I've been in there but haven't focused on their meat department. It looks like a nice old-fashioned store.

I was in Rosemont Market today and they had a big sign in front of the store, saying something like Try Farmer Bob's Natural Beef....Actually it's the wonderful meats from Curtis Custom Meats in Windham. Another place is French and Braun in Camden. Of course these are a bit far to go to.

Considering that I'm not much of a meat-eater (fish is about the extent of it) I'm going to excuse myself from the butcher debate.

I am concerned about the Market though. Even though I never bought meat at Forbes (probably the only vendor in the history of the Market I never purchased from), I'm sad to see that any vendor has had to close up shop.

I'm dissapointed that vendors are still leaving the market, because to me it seems that in general the market is busier now than it's ever been. The market is usually busiest in the summer (of course) and around the Holidays, but even on a weekday in March it's been pretty busy lately. Whether or not each vendor is doing enough business to be profitable I don't know, certainly some vendors are busier than others.

John you mention that the location of the market is not ideal, and that it's in a "grungy" part of town, but one thing that I think was so great about Elizabeth Noyce's gift to the City is that this building was erected not on Commercial Street or Congress Street, but in a part of the city a little off the beaten path, where people live and work. And what's more, to help an area become less "grungy," you need to invest in business and residences in that area.

As far as the idea of converting it into housing, I see the lofts thing with the high ceilings, but I think we've got to go the distance with this market.

Of course I was being just a bit off the cuff about the market being turned into condos, a craze that seems to be sweeping the city.

When I mention that the market is in the wrong part of town I'm saying that the market could have done better elsewhere. That Noyce's gift to the city was a wonderful thing, both for the neighborhood and the people of Portland goes without saying.

Check out Pat's Meat Market on Stephens Ave. A good neighborhood meat market--nothing fancy, but pretty good quality.

I agree with Jill's comments regarding the Public Market's location,
and general situation, and also share her concerns about the overall
survival of the enterprise. It seems to me that the real problem lies
not (as John suggests) in the location, but rather in the general
management and ambience of the place. The perception when one enters
the place seems to be one of disinterest, if not ennui; I've
frequented markets the world over in both professional and consumer
capacities and this is one of the least lively and least attractive
that I have come across. In order to coax more customers into the
market, I believe that a new approach is needed. While it may be
located in a sketchy area, a revival of the neighborhood could be
spurred by a successful and more enticing approach to the problem of
managing and promoting the Portland Public Market.
Unlike Jill, I am a carnivore, and while I also found Forbes to be
uneven with regard to quality and service, at least they gave it a
shot. I spoke with Ben Forbes several times while ordering
hard-to-find items like wild boar (farm raised in TX), and he was
unfailingly helpful, but when he was not present, I experienced dicey
service of same sort which John laments of at Pat's.

An aside: Bleecker Street bisects Jones Street just west of 7th ave,
and on the northwest corner of Jones Street you will find what is
arguably the best butcher shop in the country: The Florence Meat
Market. Once owned by Tony Pelligrino, a great butcher from Sicily, it
was sold several years ago to one of the employees on the condition
that all the staff remain. When in NYC, I suggest that all meat lovers
make a pilgrimage...cheaper than Lobel's and Ottomanelli, too.
I lived for many years in Italy, where every town, no matter how
small, has a butcher of the type that John describes in his ideal
Portland butcher shop fantasy. Of all the butchers in Italy, and
perhaps in the world, none is more inspirational, unusual, or
passionate than my old friend, Dario Cecchini. Dario, who studied
(paradoxically) to be a veterinarian, was called back to panzano to
take over the family business after the untimely death of his father,
and a legend was born. Called "il poeta-macellaio di panzano", (the
poet-butcher of panzano the town in chianti where he plies his trade)
where you are as likely to hear strains of John Coltrane or Verdi
wafting down the street as you are to be treated to Dario reciting
Dante's commedia divina or l'inferno from memory as he stuffs
sausages or cuts enormous chianina steaks before a delighted, multi-national crowd (feasting on
the free food, cheese and wine provided by Dario) that would be the envy of any one of
our purveyors in the Public Market....maybe we can entice Dario to
open a branch of antica macelleria cecchini in Portland...?

Talk about a name from the past!!! I haven't thought about the Florence Meat Market in many, many years. When I lived in NY, and lived downtown, I went there as well as to Ottomanelli's. Wouldn't it be swell if we had something like that.

I do think that the market is busier than ever. But something is missing that's not making it click 100 percent. The most common complaint that I hear from vendors is that the rents are too high. We still need tohave more vendors there who sell items we can't get anywhere else. In Forbe's case I don't think it was a very well run concern. Had there been the same butcher on duty at all times he might have built up a following.

ONe of the newest vendors, Foley's, has high hopes of doing well. And I hope they do. Their cakes are terrific, though I think that they should start another line of more "homey" sorts of baked goods, because many of their cakes are really special occasion items.

What Portland doesn't have is a take-out shop of prepared foods that people can take to have at home. This is tricky business but something like Aurora's might do well there and be an incentive for new shoppers. It's a difficult business and one has to wonder if the market is being run as well as it could be.

Lobel's is quite outstanding. My mother likes to send me care packages from them, and they really have the finest meats I've ever had the occasion to eat, cooked at home or at a restaurant. I guess they might be outrageously expensive, but I'd have to vote for "worth every penny."

To be honest, because of mom's generosity, I rarely buy fine cuts of meat in Portland. I get my chicken and lean pork, and I leave the fancy stuff to Lobel's.

Well, Leigh, you've got the best of both world's. Can we get on your mother's mailing list?

John -- Wouldn't it be nice if she were an all-purpose meat provider? :) When my parents were first married, they were working in the theatre, which is not the most stable of professions. My grandmother was convinced they didn't have enough money to eat and so sent them steaks from her local butcher in St. Louis (note: they were in Chicago at the time, not a city known for its lack of groceries). I guess my mom just likes to continue the tradition, and I'm not going to complain! :) Besides, the last time I made filets from Lobel's, I wound up engaged -- I'd say they're worth it. :)

Leigh

Out of curiosity I went to Lobel's website to see what they offer.

The selection is truly astounding, not so much for what they have but what they charge! A 7 to 9 pound leg of lamb, for instance, was nearly $300. A 16 oz porterhouse steak was $100. No wonder you got engaged after serving those filets!!!!!

Intriguing -- the package my mom tends to send me is one of their pre-selected assortments and I know it doesn't cost that much--more than Hannaford or even fine local butchers, yes, but my parents aren't insane! :) Then again, she's sending us 4- or 6-oz filets and 12-oz. veal chops at at time -- my fiance and I are small folks, and I don't think we could get through a 7 pound leg of lamb if you paid us. Good to know, though; I sure won't be ordering for myself anytime soon!

check out the website. what the heck, mom is just being generous.

Fun stuff! I checked the mixed packages like the ones she sends, and I have to say that getting 4 meals out of $100-$150 of prime beef doesn't seem so bad. (She's only ever sent us the likes of the smallest packages I found on there; all the others seem to have things in 4s and ours come with 2s.) Plus I know they let her customize it. It may be a splurge, but from what I've tasted, it's worth every penny. Treat yourself sometime to The Madison Avenue package and see what you think! :)

LOOKING FOR A GOOD MEAT SHOP WHO WOULD LIKE TO CARRY BELL EVANS ALL NATURAL AIR CHILLED CHICKEN

I worked there as a dishwasher one time in a different life I'm the reason why good ole Gilly boy is gone. NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH FSU MA FA!!!!!!!!!!!!

Butchers are a different cut so to speak I am an old fashioned butcher but the days are going quick as the supermarkets of the world have taken over. People do not realize that the old time butcher can not cut and maintain meat at the same price as the supermarkets because on a small scale the costs are higher and you also have less desirable cuts of meat to sell because you have a whole carcass to use up. However hopefully people like you will keep us in business so the art of butchering doesn't die. Tami