Dry Ager Review by Rob Levitt from Publican Quality Meats Video

Paul Kahan and his partners at One Off Hospitality opened Publican Quality Meats almost 8 years ago, and it evolved over the years. It's a lot of things: it's a butcher shop, it's a production facility, it's a restaurant, it's a private dining space, it's catering. We do so much out of this little space.

So, Dry Ager was a pretty big game changer for us. Once we saw how the product was coming out, it really got us excited to work with the product more. We're trimming away a lot less than we used to, so we're getting much better yields, and then the consistency of the product and how it ages is a lot better. The great thing about the Dry Ager units is that using these units means that I can put stuff in there and I don't have to worry about the conditions that the product will be in when I pull it out, because the unit itself is designed to take care of all of that for me. That's such a great benefit of having this product.

We're very lucky that we have a lot of regular customers who have been shopping with us for years and they immediately notice these big, beautiful units full of meat, and they want to talk about it. They see it, and they want to ask us questions. For people who have never been here before, it draws them right in. So, we wind up using the dry aging units as a talking point, then we tell them about the beef, and we tell them about the different things that we age in there and how these units really help us. As a result, we've seen that we're selling more steaks than we ever have before.

The impact is huge. For the first time, we have people who are asking if we can tag a whole rib of beef or a whole rack of lamb, and put them in the ager and save them especially for them. They're buying these whole pieces for their holiday table or for whatever they want to do, like cut steaks for their friends. It's changing the way we sell steaks here. It's changing the way we sell meat here, in that people are really interested in learning more about the process and talking about the unit and what it does, and as a result people are buying more.

Since I've been here, it's a much different place than it was when it first opened. We have a dedicated group of customers that come in and see us all the time; we do a lot of business for the neighborhood and for the community. I think the evolution of this place is because of all the things we're known for: the quality and the service. It's kind of grown into its own thing and I'm really, really proud to be here.