LYNN — Boutique da Carne, a butcher shop that offers more than 45 types of meat from all over the world, opened its doors last week on Market Street.
Co-owner Elaine Da Silva said their first week in business was a success, with a steady flow of customers seen since the shop’s opening.
Owned by business partners, Da Silva and Weslei De Almeida of Peabody, and Melquesedeque Vital of East Boston, the shop sells slabs of meat from suppliers across the globe in Australia and New Zealand, as well as local farms in New England.
The suppliers in Australia provide the butchery with grass-fed beef, while the suppliers in New Zealand provide flat meat, such as flap steaks or sirloin tips.
Beef, pork, chicken and lamb are some of the options that can be found at Boutique da Carne, along with their own marinated meats and some milk and cream from Richardon’s Farm in Middleton.
Boutique da Carne, located at 32 Market St., makes its own sausages, ranging from chicken, spicy, beef and pork.
Da Silva said they work with the highest-grade meat and have “all of the best cuts.”
She said she doesn’t buy cheap meat because when eating it, people think about the quality and how good it is, not how much they paid. She did say, however, she tries to keep the prices reasonable.
“We don’t want to be pricey. We want to be reasonable for everyone to be able to get good meat,” Da Silva said.
Da Silva said since they just opened, she is still estimating the quantity and kinds of meat to order, but she said she is very careful when she buys meat because it has to be exactly how she wants it.
“I want to provide the best. I don’t want to just provide meat,” Da Silva said.
In the meat market, Da Silva said people need to be able to come and see what they are purchasing, so they lay out a variety of meats at the counter and have windows into the cold room where they store the slabs of meat.
The butchery also sells some specialties, including chicken legs stuffed with bacon, smoked sausage, and green, red and yellow peppers and chicken breasts rolled up with ham and cheese.
Some of the meats that Da Silva’s partners, Vital and De Almeida, prepare are pork and spare ribs, steak, pork loin, pork shoulder, and pork butt, which Da Silva said has been highly requested on Facebook. They also offer pork belly, oxtail, dry, salted meat and more.
“People go crazy because there’s good options,” Da Silva said. She said they don’t buy in bulk, but rather as they go to ensure the meat is fresh.
Vital has also owned his own butcher shop in Brazil for about 15 years, so Da Silva said he has a lot of experience as a butcher.
Boutique da Carne plans to incorporate whole sales to provide meat to local restaurants, but as for now, Da Silva said they are focusing on getting the store going. She also said they plan to work with more local farms as they settle into the community.
Da Silva said they were searching for a location to open their storefront for a while with the idea to offer customers good quality meat and a variety of options. They loved the location of the Market Street store and Da Silva said they felt it would attract a variety of customers.
The search for a storefront didn’t begin in Lynn, but Da Silva said they are so happy and grateful they decided to open in Lynn because they have already received so much support from customers in Lynn and the neighboring communities.
“Customers said they were excited. When they come to visit, they’ll come back,” Da Silva said.
“When we opened, and on the first day and then when everybody came, I was so surprised. I was like ‘oh my god.’ The community works so well together and is so helpful.”
Allysha Dunnigan can be reached at [email protected].
