photo by Agata Schoenborn

Tanya Cauthen | Meat

When Tanya took the bull by the horns and opened the Belmont Butchery, the Swiss-trained chef had already honed her knife skills in Australia's Queen Victoria Market and cooked in the city's best restaurants. Inspiration struck "when I heard Alton Brown on the Food Network saying, just ask you local butcher…and I thought, who has a local butcher anymore? I decided to change that." The food world has taken notice. Her Belmont Avenue shop, one block off Cary, has been featured in Saveur and, this month, the butcher herself appears in Food & Wine. "There's a trend toward chefs going back to butchering meat. It's a return to the artisnal way of doing things." Her cut-to-order meets and handcrafted pates and sausages have local cooks swooning.  “I find the best and bring it here,” says Tanya, her trademark butcher-knife earring swaying.  “It’s all about great food, good friends, and having fun.”