UPDATED 9/11/19 3 p.m.
When Walter Apfelbaum was a kid, he was always drawn to the meat section. The seasoned butcher says he grew up in a time when his family spent all day shopping around local markets to fill their pantry (and stomachs).
“Coming from a German household, we never went to the grocery store. It was always the butcher for meat or the fish market for fish. It was never one place and it was a whole ordeal getting food for the week,” Apfelbaum explains.
He discovered his passion for butchery early and started working with his father’s friend in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Taking Walter under his wing, the family friend took Apfelbaum around town to explore the various butcher shops; anything from whole animal butchery to local shops.
“He knew all the cutters and the guys at the steakhouses in the tri-state area. He’d send me out to help them during the holidays,” the butcher remembers.
Fast forward to when Apfelbaum picked up the knife and began his career behind the counter. In 2009, he began working for Council Oak Steaks & Seafood at Tampa's Hard Rock Hotel & Casino before opening a new restaurant at the Coconut Creek Casino location in 2011. Rising in the ranks, the seasoned cutter left Hard Rock in 2016 to open the Prime + Proper steakhouse in Detroit.
Apfelbaum was summoned back to the Sunshine state three months ago by the Council Oak Steaks & Seafood team, which had been running the in-house butcher shop since 2009.
“They called me and of course I said, 'Yes' when they asked me if I wanted to do it,” he explains.
The Council Oak butcher shop is located at the entrance of the steakhouse near the hostess desk. Council Oak guests can walk up to the window and see what types of meat, from USDA Prime cuts to Japanese Wagyu to Colorado lamb, are available.
For Apfelbaum, it’s about building that familial trust between customer and butcher. He says he wants people to be comfortable and happy with picking the perfect steak every time. “You walk in and it’s like ‘boom here’s the butcher shop.’ We want you to see we aren’t playing around here. We’ll even pick steaks out for you.”
The meat is supplied from Chicago’s woman-owned Purely Meat Co., which Apfelbaum has had a relationship with for the past seven years; it's the only woman-owned meat company in Chicago. Every cut in the shop is available on the menu enabling guests to hit the butcher window and pick out the exact cut of meat they prefer for a dine-in meal. Guests have the option of buying cuts to-go, although Apfelbaum prefers it if you stay for a while to give guests a taste of Council Oaks’ finesse.
“It’s about that experience from the time you enter to the time you leave. This is something that should be burned in your memory,” he mentions.
The Council Oak Butcher Shop is open seven days a week from 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Apfelbaum encourages everyone to stop by and look in the window even if you aren’t eating at Council Oak.
“We just want to have the best quality meat and be available to everyone, no matter what their questions are," he says. "We want to really create those memories and experiences for every single guest.”
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