Masters of Meat

Meat is in and butchers have become downright cool. Take Brooklyn meat connoisseurs Tom Mylan and Brent Young, co-owners of the Meat Hook, in Williamsburg. Not only will they get you a remarkable cut of meat, they’ll keep you drooling with innovative sausages, like the Bacon Cheeseburger Sausage, made with beef shoulder, pork belly, onion, cheap beer, cheese, crunchy bacon bits, salt and pepper. The pair have also come up with Buffalo Chicken Wing and Taco Chorizo sausages.

The Meat Hook has set up shop inside the newly opened Brooklyn Kitchen Labs–a 7,000-square-foot former warehouse space. It includes two cooking labs where you can take one-session classes like Fry Me a River or Lambs of Love - "Date Night" Butchering. The space also houses the Meat Hook, where visitors can request a tour of the meat locker to see top-shelf meats (locals and non-locals alike can keep tabs on what Mylan and Young are doing on their blog) and the Bulk Room, which stores bulk oils, vinegars, beans, rice, flour, chocolate, spices and other ingredients, sourced as locally as possible. Brooklyn Kitchen Labs also contains a research library that includes a collection of rare and out-of-print cookbooks, and areas for brewing supplies and baking supplies that can be rented.—Denise Shoukas

Denise Shoukas is a regular foodspring.com contributor and is the author of foodspring’s food forager blog.