Part traditional butcher shop and part specialty market, Butcher & Market combines hand-cut meats, fresh seafood, house-made pasta and gourmet pantry items under one roof. The goal is to give home cooks access to restaurant-quality ingredients while bringing back the personal service once associated with neighborhood butcher shops.

“We don’t cheat,” says proprietor and partner Francis Metais. “Our only competition is with quality and creativity.”

Located within The Market at Sawgrass Grove, the shop offers everything from premium steaks and fresh seafood to specialty cheeses, sauces, seasonings and prepared foods. Customers can stop in for a single cut of meat or leave with everything needed for a complete meal. The signature tomahawk steak sits on the higher end of the price scale and remains a best-seller.

“We always work directly with our customers to offer recommendations on cuts, cooking methods, preparation techniques and flavor pairings,” Francis says. 

It’s the kind of guidance that used to be standard at every neighborhood butcher shop and is increasingly hard to find.

The hand-made pasta is created with Italian flour and eggs, with natural colors and nutrients added through juices from beets, ginseng and spirulina before being shaped and packaged fresh.

“Our ingredients are very important to us because we will never sacrifice quality,” Francis says. “We make our own Japanese sandwich bread daily, we make our own soups from scratch and we even make pet treats out of the fresh meat and fish we have here.”

The group also owns and operates Little Fin Seafood, Willy’s Original Smash Burgers and Frenchy’s Wood Fired Pizza. These stalls service the people who show up for shows at the Sawgrass Grove and want to take fresh food outside, to the bar or the ample seating in the market. The quality remains the same.

“For the pizza dough, we use a slow fermentation process to add complexity to our crust,” Francis says. “Our conch fritters are fresh and the meat for the burgers are the cuts from our steaks.”

For Villages residents who come in just to shop and take their dinner parties and home-cooking to a higher level, Butcher & Market is exactly the kind of place worth knowing about. 

They are located at 766 Marilee Place in The Villages. For more information, call 352.571.5934 or visit butcherandmarket.com.

Photos by Gina Horan