Fairfield Butcher Duo Makes the Cut

FAIRIFIELD, Conn. -- With the summer heat comes the time-honored tradition of grilling. And if you’re wondering about the right cut for your flame-kissed cuisine, Jerry Ballone and Brian Wallenta at The Pantry, 1580 Post Road, can help.

“I always like to steer people toward the rib-eye, bone in or out,” Ballone says. He and Wallenta are the Fairfield store’s expert butchers. As they sit at the tables in the middle of the gourmet food market, customers and employees alike say hello and ask how they’re doing.

“The first key to being a good butcher, I find, is to know your customer,” says Ballone after waving to an elderly customer he knows on a first-name basis. He continues, “You come to know their buying patterns and exactly what cuts they are looking for.”

Ballone does offer tips on finding the right cut. “You should look at the color of the meat and look for a lot of marbling. That’s what allows a good cut to cook properly and retain its flavor,” according to Ballone.

Both he and Wallenta served as deli managers before coming to The Pantry. In fact, Wallenta brought him to the store from Mercurio’s Market before it closed. They had been partners in the butcher business for 15 years. Wallenta jokes that there are marriages that don’t last as long. “You almost got away, but I drug you back in,” he laughs, addressing Ballone.

The two agree there is a certain lost art when it comes to butcher shops. People don’t buy sides of beef anymore and have them cut and prepared. Supermarket chains toss standard cuts, shrink-wrapped on Styrofoam boards, into cool cases, and most people accept that. The two agree nothing makes them happier than a customer who wants a piece of beef cut to a specification, or needs a chicken butterflied or lamb chops properly Frenched. “There’s something missed when you just walk up to a counter, pick up a package and walk away,” Ballone says.

They also note that on occasion they can accommodate special requests. One customer sometimes requests dry-aging of his meat. The duo can also order game meats like venison and rabbit.

For the holiday weekends, hot dogs and burgers are their biggest sellers. The patties are ground in the store, and formed by hand instead of thrown into a generic press. “This is the only tool they give us and the only one we need,” says Ballone, making a smash gesture with his fist.

 

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