Town of Valdese issued the following announcement on Nov. 26.
Stepping up to a butcher and asking for a particular cut of meat is something that’s been missing in Valdese for more than a decade.
But come next year that will change.
Kristina Mercer, an owner and manager of Highland Family Farms, said the farm plans to open a butcher shop and restaurant in Valdese by summer. Mercer and her husband, Jon, co-own Highland Family Farms, which consists of two working farms in Connelly Springs, with Daniel and Erin Wall.
The Mercers partnered with the Walls in the farm in 2015 and have expanded to sell their meats to restaurants and grocery stores, Kristina Mercer said. Food Matters Market carries their beef, pork and lamb, and the farm sells its lamb to Gypsy Queen Cuisine in Asheville and meats to the Levee Brewery in Valdese.
The farm raises Black Angus and American Wagyu cattle, pigs and lamb, Mercer said. The farm has been using a USDA slaughterhouse to cut and package its meat, which it stores in a big walk-in freezer, she said.
For years, people in Valdese could get fresh cut meat from Childers Market and Walsh’s Market, Mercer said. Childers Market closed in 2008 after 50 years in business, according to previous News Herald stories.
And as an ode to those two markets, Mercer said the butcher shop will sell Soutissa, a Waldensian sausage, and Walsh’s livermush. It also will sell what Mercer calls value-added products such as its own bacon, brats and sauces, in addition to its beef, pork and lamb, she said.
“Most of the time our products are frozen but we would love to be able to offer both fresh and frozen options,” Mercer said.
The butcher shop with a certified kitchen and farm-to-table restaurant will be located at 205 Rodoret St., which is the site of the old Post Office and sits behind the restaurant 100 Main.
“We want somewhere that’s going to feature our meat,” Mercer said.
The building will be split down the middle with the butcher shop on one side and the 50-seat bar and restaurant on the other, Mercer said. And all of the products will be USDA certified, she said.
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