Stillman Quality Meats Butcher Shop
Photos by Michael Piazza
When shopping at Stillman Quality Meats butcher shop, there’s no question what the centerpiece of the meal will be. From dozens of seasonal sausage flavors to their potpies, chili and house-cured bacon, it’s a meat lover’s paradise. The nearly 1-year-old shop’s motto is “simple and honest, farm to fork,” but the forkful doesn’t end with the steak … nor the chicken burger nor the charcuterie.
Fresh pastas, jams, hot sauce, pickles and olives, cheese and crackers, soups, weekly fish choices, ice cream, maple syrup and a variety of Rose32 breads line the deli counter and surrounding shelves. In the warmer months, owner Kate Stillman curates a selection of produce—zucchini, summer squash, radishes, cucumbers and green, yellow and purple beans—making it even more difficult to leave having paid just the once.
“I’m not a foodie, I just grew up eating really good food and being around it. In that sense, it’s within my wheelhouse to sell other people’s really good food,” said Kate of the eclectic mix at the shop.
The variety, and the convenience, cultivates loyal customers. Kate’s shop is located on Harding Street in the heart of Worcester’s Canal District.
“As a single mom [and] small-business owner, I’m always trying to find ways to diversify and not have every dollar come from the same source,” she said.
Not only does Kate prioritize local brands, she collaborates with them too. This summer she debuted housemade sausages inspired by, and featuring, local beers.
Top of the list is Hardwick’s Lost Towns Brewing (owned by her brother), East Brookfield’s Timberyard Brewing Co., Worcester’s own Redemption Rock Brewing Co., Framingham’s Exhibit A Brewing Co., Honest Weight Artisan Beer out of Orange and Rapscallion Brewery from Sturbridge, as well as Hardwick Winery—Kate’s neighbor.
While her repertoire includes nearly 75 sausages, there are between 10 and 12 available any given day on a two- to three-week rotation. Fennel-Riesling and red wine-rosemary are perennial favorites, she said.
Summer brought interesting flavors like strawberry-feta-basil and blueberry sausage. “Once strawberry season is gone, though, those are done,” she said with a tone of enjoy-it-before-it’s-too-late, a sentiment a farmer knows all too well.
This fall, Kate will sell cool-season sausage flavors like pear and ginger; roasted butternut and blue cheese; five spice, apple and bacon; and roasted kale and garlic, all inspired by the turn in weather. But these too are limited, seasonal runs.
While Kate is happy to walk customers through the many choices available in-store, Stillman Quality Meats also takes custom orders and increases its inventory at certain times of year—think Thanksgiving turkeys, Christmas roasts, Easter hams and those dozens and dozens of burgers devoured at summer barbecues.
Once a familiar face at the Boston Public Market and Copley Square and Brookline farmers markets, now Kate runs the butcher shop full time, which is open Tuesday through Saturday 10am–6pm and Sunday 10am–5pm.
Tucked away in a burgeoning retail district and the soon-to-be home of the Worcester Red Sox, she’s pleased by the growing awareness of her shop. And, while what customers want varies by the day, she’s happy to oblige.
“It’s funny, some days all we sell are steaks, some days sausages, some days all they want is cheese,” said Kate. “It’s good to be able to hit all those bases.”
This story appeared in the Fall 2019 issue of Edible Worcester.