New Vegan Butcher Shop Comes to Brooklyn

Vegan butcher shop Monk’s Vegan Delicatessen and Kitchen will open in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn this spring. The shop will be the first brick-and-mortar location of Brooklyn-based vegan company Monk’s Meats, which gained its local popularity through a stand at food marketplace Smorgasboard. The shop will be inspired by classic Brooklyn deli’s and butcher shops but feature meat-free seitan-based fare such as smoked meats, salami, sausages, and steaks in addition to housemade pickles, tofu, and plant-based cheeses. “I think overall the biggest reaction we get is that people can’t believe with all the flavors and textures, that the stuff doesn’t have any meat in it,” co-founder and chef Chris Kim says. The shop will occupy a the space of a former Chinese restaurant and while it will not have a sit-down counter, Kim says plans for a future restaurant are in the works. Currently, the vegan butcher shop concept—first launched by Minneapolis-based Herbivorous Butcher eaerlier this year—is expanding nationwide with places such as The Butcher’s Son in Berkeley, CA and Atlas Meat-Free Delicatessen scheduled to open in early 2017 in Miami, FL.