Red Hog Breaks It Down

Red Hog Restaurant & Butcher Shop started on a simple premise: use everything. It was (and still is) Louisville’s first and only “nose to tail” butcher shop that supplies grocery customers as well as the kitchen in the adjoining restaurant space. The movement is not new in the culinary landscape outside of our city lines as sustainability has become an increasing priority over the past several years. But for Owner and Operator Kit Garrett, the drive to open these doors didn’t come from noticing a national trend and wanting to jump on it to turn a buck in our market, it came, like many things in Kentucky, from a farm. Her farm, to be exact. 

HONOR THY ANIMAL

There is nothing easy about farming. Period. When Kit started raising hogs on her land with her former husband, Bob Hancock, in Oldham County a number of years ago, they grew to deeply understand the care and effort it takes to raise animals. And after all that care and effort, the animal gives its life to feed humans who often discard much of what the animal has to offer. Looking to emerging butchery models in Europe and larger domestic cities, the pair decided it was time to honor the farmers in their area by bringing whole animal processing home to Kentucky. 

They were no rookies in the local food scene when they began looking for a location for their ambitious whole animal butcher shop. They opened Blue Dog Bakery and Café 23 years ago only a few blocks away from where Red Hog now sits. In certain ways, Blue Dog demonstrates a longtime dedication to executing every single step of service. Like Red Hog’s butcher shop supplies its restaurant, the large baking operation in the back of Blue Dog feeds into the European style café in the front. It also supplies bread to nearly every notable restaurant in town including bar Vetti. 

bar Vetti is where I first met Red Hog’s Executive Chef Noam Bilitzer. And, come to think of it, I met one of Red Hog’s Sous Chefs, Katie Smith, there too. They were both regular fixtures at the bar Vetti + Friends dinner series in 2018. At that time, Noam was a freshly crowned champion on the Food Network cooking competition “Chopped” and worked as the Chef de Cuisine at Proof on Main. Katie was fresh off her mentorship with The LEE Initiative, who now hold a “nose to tail” butchery class for their new mentees at Red Hog. All of these criss-crossing kitchen career trajectories are so very central to Louisville’s culinary community. You’ll always find far more collaboration than competition between chefs and local restaurants here. In fact, chefs are often each other’s most loyal customers.

(L-R) Chef Noam Bilitzer in Red Hog’s open concept kitchen, Red Hog’s Dry Aged Beef Tartar, Sous Chef Katie Smith 

Noam was a fan of Red Hog from day one. He was born in Israel and has fond memories of “cooking ‘ala Esh’- over the fire.” Kit had her own affinity for wood fired fare and incorporated it into Red Hog’s open concept kitchen build. When Noam was offered the chance to take over, he jumped at it. 

“Being the executive chef of Red Hog was like opening my dream restaurant. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse and love what we continue to become.” -Chef Noam Bilitzer

The restaurant is only half of the equation, though. The adjoining shop headed by Master Butcher Aaron Sortman serves as a sort of protein farmer’s market offering a wide variety of fresh cuts from area farms along with snacks, charcuterie, condiments, take home dinners and of course, freshly baked bread from just down the street at Blue Dog ready to grab-and-go every Tuesday - Saturday.

Various offerings from Red Hog’s Butcher Shop

To add to that farmer’s market feeling, you can regularly see local farmers dropping off new product and catching up with the staff. The relationship is more than transactional here, a majority of the ‘About’ page on Red Hog’s website is dedicated to introducing their guests to the family farms that are feeding them with only a small blurb dedicated to the restaurant itself. 

“To me, I think it's important to keep your dollar in your community. The big box stores have enough money and shopping (at Red Hog) directly helps a farmer keep the lights on and perpetuates a sustainable model for protein consumption. Also, you reduce your risk of food borne illnesses by not purchasing meat that comes from who-knows-where that has been packed and stored with thousands of different animals from different farms.” - Aaron Sortman

SUSTENANCE

Let’s face facts. It’s 2021 and we’re well over a year into an unprecedented crisis for independently owned restaurants like Red Hog. Sustainability has become a buzzword that is tossed around so frequently that it’s beginning to lose its meaning. Here, it is the core mission statement. It touches every part of their operation. 

Chef Noam Bilitzer has even applied it to his management style saying, “The same community building aspect that made me fall in love with restaurants is something we often overlook within our own restaurants. Creating a sustainable culture for your team not only to work in but to continue growing in. Red Hog was created with food sustainability at its main focus and I try to focus that belief through the entire team.” 

It serves as a great example for other restaurants that are struggling to attract and maintain staff as the service industry faces uncertain closures, supply chain issues and mounting operating costs. The staff at Red Hog feels abnormally excited at all times. Aaron’s butcher shop staff includes former bartenders and servers who have gained nearly as much knowledge as he holds after spending over a decade honing his craft. It’s a rare thing to see and the staff knows that they’re in a special place learning things everyday that will only serve to further their success in the industry. 

The menu changes frequently as Noam finds new inspiration in the seasonal produce and offerings from their farming partners while maintaining staples like their famous burger. The portions are generous, the ingredients are as fresh as anyone could hope for and places like this can only survive if we continue to value their presence.

All of this is to say, next time you’re craving a beautifully prepared steak dinner or need to pick up hot dogs for a weekend cookout, go to Red Hog. The magic inside of this converted transmission shop shows no sign of breaking down anytime soon and we can’t wait to see what they’ll offer up next.