This place just makes me want to cut up my credit card. There. I said it. Actually, I love Dan and Dorothy Boxler’s quaint mainstay just on the outskirts of the constantly evolving and forever charming Kennett Square. I can buy so much here, because frankly they have absolutely everything here to make holiday entertaining or gift hunting go off without a hitch.
They’ve stuffed this euro-inspired market from the worn wooden floors to the rafters with tons of very reasonably priced jars, boxes, bags and cans. My eyes just can’t stop perusing in this neighborhood gem where “everybody knows your name.”
There’s the meat. After all it is called the Country Butcher. More than 25 fresh, custom cuts of beef, poultry, lamb, veal, pork and smoked hams. Where else can you find fresh air-line chicken? Slab bacon (some nitrate free) and my personal favorite breakfast scrapple round out this thorough selection. Sold.
The signature house-made sausage collection is stuffed with the likes of cinnamon raisin apple pork (think holiday breakfast), Italian pork with broccoli rabe, chicken and bacon and many more. A constantly rotating list keeps this counter full of lip-smackin’ surprises. Credit card swiped again.
Hosting a Feast of the Seven Fishes? A modest but all-inclusive selection of the freshest seafood including standards like shrimp and scallops. Fresh Atlantic wild caught salmon, Chilean sea bass and melt-in-your-mouth flounder will make sure your guests are wanting more.
More than 100 of the finest artisan-made local, domestic and imported cheeses are stacked and heaped in a way that made me want to dive right in. I purchased a delice de cremiers triple crėme Brie that I was planning to take to a weekend soirée. Made it home, opened immediately, drizzled with a few nuts and honey. Oops. Gone.
The market also offers every possible cheeseboard accompaniment that you could imagine, from pâtés, jams and chutneys to crackers, olives and cornichons. Olive oils (including their own brand) and fresh breads around every bend. Someone pinch me please.
On the spot sumptuous soups, salads and sandwiches. All made daily for those impromptu gatherings of crazed craft beer monger friends or a gaggle of the ladies who lunch. Can I just move in here, Mr. And Mrs. Boxler?
Every shelf I gazed upon, like a kid in a candy store, was full of honey (local Swarmbustin’ – a personal choice), Stonewall Kitchen mulled cider blends, and mustards, marzipan, wild snails, petite rum baba cakes, beautifully gift packaged Panettone Classico authentic Italian specialty cakes and peppermint bark tea. Oh, and candy. Lots of market-packed stocking stuffer-sized bags of Jordan almonds, licorice pastilles, mints, hand dipped nuts, pretzels and fruit for the taking.
Fresh out-of-the-oven sugar glazed pastries and butter-rubbed desserts accosted me in the back of the store as I unintentionally (or quite intentionally) pressed my nose into the front of the glass case. I stared wantonly at cookies, pies, peanut butter and rustic apple tarts. I drooled over seven-layer cake and Christmas petit fours. My credit card was once again smokin’ with desire.
And let’s not forget the highly valued customer service here. Serious best butchery from Dan and his slew of a crew that are ready and willing to offer pertinent information, time-saving advice, creative recipes and certain smiles. Even during their busiest times. Which is now. During the holidays. So why are you still reading this? Just go. And don’t say I didn’t warn you.
The Country Butcher is located at 145 S. Walnut St., Kennett Square; phone: (610) 444-5980.
- Photos: Ed Williams
