“Butcher shops can be intimidating, but I want people to come here and feel like they’re just going to visit Dave and Melissa to figure out what’s for dinner tonight,” says David Mountain, who co-owns Beacon’s new butchery and market, Dave the Butcher, with his wife, Melissa.
The Mountains seek to transform the typical meat market—from a place where a slab of meat is hastily wrapped and rushed out the door—into a warm, welcoming hub where locals gather to chat, share ideas, and discover new favorite home-cooked recipes.
“Melissa is Basque and we both love Basque food culture, which usually centers around communal gatherings with elders sharing recipes and cooking techniques—that’s the feeling we’re going for here,” explains Mountain, who is a classically trained whole-animal butcher, charcutier, and salumiere explains. “Come in and have a cup of coffee. Sit with a sandwich and a friend. What we’re doing as a whole-animal butcher isn’t new; it comes from a long line of knowledge and skills passed down for as long as food has been prepared. But where we’re different is that we want to make it comfortable for people to be here, to ask questions, or to try something new and unexpected.”
Open since July 4, the market focuses on grass-fed beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and duck sourced from various farms around New York and surrounding areas. The goal is to offer high-quality food while always maintaining affordable pricing. “We cut significant expenses by utilizing whole-animal and by doing the butchering and labor myself, and we pass on that value instead of marking up prices,” Mountain says. “Sure, we’d love to make some money, but it’s not the driving reason why we opened. It’s more about building community, sharing, and nourishing through quality food.” You’ll find a top sirloin for $19.99, pasture-raised ground beef for $9.99, and the most expensive cut, a boneless ribeye, topping out at $32.99.
A selection of fresh produce hails from Hudson Valley farms like Migliorielli and Tivoli Farms, and a mercantile pantry offers curated and imported sides, spices, and condiments, from Italian pasta and coffee to individual spice packets to potato buns for your burgers.
On the revolving menu for ready-made bites, you’ll find options ranging from duck confit and chicken liver mousse to sandwiches like a Cubano with housemade ham and house-smoked pork, a smoked chicken sandwich, or brisket and burgers. There may even be something for the meat-free set, like a vegan house-marinated artichoke sandwich with tomato nduja and mint or an oyster mushroom sandwich. “We ask that people bear with us as we grow and have a more complete menu,” Mountain says.
Aside from the food offerings at their Main Street, Beacon storefront, the duo also operates the cafe at Dia, with its menu of sandwiches (bresola and fig, $17), salads (miso Caesar, $15), and specialties (chickpeas in romesco, $17).
This philosophy echoes the mentality behind the building’s former tenant, Homespun Foods, a cafe that was known as much for its comfort food as it was for its attentive service until it closed last August after 18 years. The Mountains, former Brooklyn residents who enjoyed visiting the Hudson Valley, were looking to open a shop and knew they found the right building as soon as they walked in.
“We gutted the space, basically keeping the original historic floors and brick walls,” explains Melissa, who had previously been in event production and used that knowledge to bring their experiential concept to life in collaboration with Jamie McGlinchey of NoN Studio, who designed the space. “There was an entire section removed so that we could create an openness for transparency in the butchering process. And out back, we have enough outdoor seating that we can eventually offer supper clubs and educational dinners—tastings, meet-the-farmer experiences, and classes.”
On the expansive patio, you’ll also find their smoker, enclosed by a shelter crafted by Melissa’s father. Family touches are inside, too; the millwork on the counter and meat display case was designed Dave’s brother, Dan Mountain Designs, in warm wood tones that stray further from the sterile grab-and-go feel of traditional butcher shops and add to the old-world vibe.
Mountain previously worked under master butcher Kevin Smith at Seattle’s acclaimed Beast & Cleaver as well as at James Beard Award-nominated and Michelin-starred restaurants like Lilia, Misi, Ai Fiori, and Rolo’s. But beyond decades in the food industry, he equally credits his skill set to family traditions from his in-laws. ”I had great mentors in restaurants, but things changed when Melissa and I started dating. Her father put me through the test to see whether I was worthy to date his daughter by inviting me to make his Basque-style ham, a recipe taught to him by his parents, passed down from their parents—and I loved it,” he says. “From there, I started working for free at a nearby butcher shop just to learn more; the owner told me to come in once a week, but I showed up every day.”
For Mountain, the idea of whole-animal butchering doesn’t end at the counter. “When you’re given an animal, you’re given its life history, and it’s your responsibility to keep the integrity of it high—honoring the animal, the farmer’s hard work, and the person or family who will eat it,” he explains. “We use 110 percent of the animal. For example, we’ll use a whole chicken, then use its bones for stock; later, those bones can be burned into char for fertilizer on a farm. We’re also working with artist Greg Moore, who will take bones from our grass-fed cows to craft bone china that we’ll use here. Leftover sinew will go to the South Salem Wolf Conservation Center to feed the animals. We aim for zero-waste. If you’re going to use a life, use all of it.”
Dave the Butcher is open daily from 10am until 7pm. Closed Tuesday.
Dave the Butcher
232 Main Street, Beacon, NY
