Pride in pork production
Minneapolis butcher brings traditional salumi to Midwest.
After working as a chef in the Twin Cities for 25 years, studying the craft of butchery under world-renowned charcuterie experts, and examining food systems in Italy, Spain and France, Mike Phillips noticed one characteristic missing from U.S. salumi (the Italian term for sausages, cured and smoked meats; it includes salami) production — fierce pride.
“One thing I noticed when I traveled to those places — everybody had their own little thing. Like you were from this little town in Italy, and we make our salami like this, and if I’m from this little town, we make our salami like this,” Phillips says.
“It struck me how prideful they were of their little thing, to the point that it would cause bar fights. I mean, it was like sports teams; like they were that fiercely prideful of what they made, that tradition and what it meant — and I was like, ‘That’s missing in my neck of the woods for sure.’ ”
A native of Royal, Iowa, a small farming community in the northwest part of the state, Phillips worked for farmers, went to school with pork producers and even dated the 1984 Clay County Pork Queen. He saw firsthand their struggles and their tireless effort to produce quality pork products. That sense of community stayed with Phillips as he explored bringing the art of European meat curing to the Midwest.
“We have some of the best pigs in the world, in my opinion,” Phillips says. “Why can’t I figure out a way to take those pigs and make world-class products that make people fiercely prideful of where they’re from? And so that’s what we set out to do.”
“We” includes Phillips’ business partner, Kieran Folliard, known in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area for opening pubs such as The Liffey and Kieran’s Irish Pub as well as concocting the nationally recognized spirit, 2 Gingers Irish Whiskey.
After selling his successful restaurant portfolio and Jim Beam acquiring 2 Gingers, Folliard decided to take that business experience and invest in the local food brand movement — more specifically the craft cured meat business.
Six years later, Red Table Meat Co. is producing almost a ton of cured meats per week and shipping its finely aged charcuterie products to high-end restaurants, wine bars and delicatessens from coast to coast.
From speck, a dry-cured smoked ham, to Big Chet’s, a spicy fennel and garlic salami, Red Table Meat Co. has given northeast Minneapolis meat connoisseurs a dozen meat products to be fiercely proud of, and even one for Iowans to boast about — the Pork Queen, a funky black pepper and garlic salami.
“Beyond beef, I think we raise some of the best pigs in the world by far. My mentor, Francois, recognized it when he moved here and was like ‘Wow, things can get done here with this amazing meat,’ ” Phillips says.
“It’s our job to highlight it but not get in the way. I mean, we try to do it Italian-style or French-style, where there is a little bit of spice involved, but it’s only there to highlight the pork. It’s not there to create its own profile.”