Get Your Meat On at Lindy & Grundy

 

Lindy & Grundy opened earlier this year and after brunch at the Fat Dog, I finally made it in. I was immediately greeted by Amelia Posada, one half of the dynamic duo of Lindy & Grundy. Beaming from the side, Erika Nakamura was butchering with two others (it’s so great to see more female butchers!). After looking around the shop, Erika asked if I wanted to see the walk-in. Do I ever!

The walk-in was much smaller than I anticipated. Erika has to practically hug the hanging meat close to her while I absorbed what I was seeing. They had just gotten a delivery of 3 steer and the walk-in was packed. Just beyond was another walk-in holding “mostly bones and fat.”

Lindy & Grundy is all about the whole animal. While most butchers have 30% waste, Lindy & Grundy only have 20%. They’re starting to age meats along with all the great stuff you can already buy like rilettes, hot roasted chickens, dog treats and sausages along with meat. I noticed they also had eggs, some vegetables and other goods. It felt very neighborhood-y and it was nice to see families shopping for their dinner.

Looking at the cases again, I couldn’t decide what to get. See, I’m not the kind of cook that buys something for a particular dish in mind. I tend to buy everything and anything that looks interesting and then put it together like a puzzle (no, I don’t really cook from recipes– I treat them as inspiration). On this day, I decided to get all 5 of the sausages and a pound of chicken wings.

Of the five I tried; kielbasa, chicken cordon bleu, cheeseburger, pork & kimchi and chorizo, the pork and kimchi was my favorite. I was advised to pan-fry the sausages for a few minutes before finishing them in the over (about 7 minutes at 350). However, I had my pan up too hot and my first two sausages burst. I decided there was only one thing to do- fried rice! I swept the rest of the pork and kimchi into a fried rice mixture and added just a bit more kimchi.

I had won some picnic roast from Lindy & Grundy last year at Artisinal LA and had a fun time cooking it. Read my pork and veggie soup recipe here. This time I decided to buy chicken wings and go easier on myself.

A little over a pound of chicken worked out to be 7 wings, the perfect amount for appetizers. When I got home, I quickly chopped an onion and then made a marinade of garlic, soy sauce, Worcester sauce, chili oil and a few other spices. Putting the wings in a baggie with the marinade, I left it for a few hours in the fridge. When I was ready to fry them up, I poured out some of the marinade (you don’t want them to boil) before adding them to a hot wok.

Oh, they were so delicious! Between my kimchi fried rice with the pork and kimchi sausage and a couple of chicken wings (plus salad), I had a great meal. I ate the rest of the wings with noodles for lunch the next day.

I’m thinking about another dinner party so I can stop in again.

 

Lindy & Grundy

801 N Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046 – (323) 951-0804