New Butcher Provides For Upper State Street

Provisions on State — opening on Upper State Street in September — will be New Haven’s only whole-animal butcher shop that uses regional animals; it also plans to have ​“everything you’d need for a simple, excellent meal,” said chef Emily Mingrone, who is busily readying the shop for its opening with business partner Shane McGowan.

Mingrone and McGowan already run Tavern on State, which they opened in 2019 and quickly found their footing. Provisions on State started with a cryptic and appetizing instagram post. Or rather, that was the first sign of what had been brewing in the Tavern on State team’s mind for a while now.

Butchery, to Mingrone, involves taking whole or half animals — there’s a lot of beef in half a cow, let alone a whole cow — and breaking them down into pieces, either for retail or for grinding meat in house for both ground meat and house-made sausage. ​“We’ll have the standards like hot and sweet Italian sausage and chorizo,” Mingrone said. She has also started recipe testing for more bold flavors with Zach Pierce, the head butcher-to-be at Provisions on State. Some are inspired by junk food; recently debuted on Instagram was a sausage evoking ​“cool ranch Dorito,” blended with pepperoncini, cherry peppers, onion, garlic, and — as expected — Dorito dust. Mingrone herself has a background in butchery, having formerly been at Fleischer’s in Westport (Pierce’s current workplace), so she knows how much a good butcher shop can bring to a neighborhood and a community.

But Mingrone is planning for Provisions on State to be more than that. ​“I’m leaning towards the verbiage a general store,” Mingrone said. ​“A little bit of everything, responsibly sourced, and curated.” This means not just meat, but bread, cheese, vegetables, coffee, and more. Mingrone is planning to feature animals from across the region, including pork from Walden Meats in Massachusetts, and cows from the Finger Lakes region of New York. She also plans to offer produce and cheese; the produce will be largely local when possible, and cheese vendors brought into the fold include Cato Corner, Mystic Cheese, and Arethusa. She’s also excited to feature ​“catch of the day” seafood, sourced locally as well. Eventually there will be a cocktail/bar component spearheaded by McGowan, who develops the cocktail menu a few doors down at Tavern. Provisions will include bar equipment and (nonalcoholic) ingredients to make popular Tavern cocktails at home.

“I hate making decisions, so if someone can point and tell me, ​‘eat that,’ it makes my life a lot easier,” Mingrone said.

The space is large enough to outfit a pantry, but small enough to take choice paralysis out of the situation. The meat refrigerator and butcher counter take strong center stage. They present immediately the idea that this space is a butcher shop, showcasing the meats in prominent, large windows. A sunny corner features apple baskets arranged for produce, and a large antique cabinet has many a cubby for dry goods. ​“We’re taking a bit of a vintage-punk aesthetic here,” said Mingrone, grinning and pointing to a chunk of wall eventually to be presided over by a neon pig.

Mingrone has other big plans for the future: butchery classes, dinners, and community building that comes from being a part of the neighborhood. ​“I wanted to create a community meeting place at Tavern — that’s sort of the same here,” she said. ​“I really want to educate people the best we can. I’m also really here to teach people how to make good food at home. The food I cook at Tavern is so simple sometimes that — not to devalue what I do — but people can learn.” Mingrone cites the ​‘old school’ way of grocery shopping, with craftspeople selling each type of item, and hopes to bring that same feel to Provisions.

Expanding a business during a pandemic may seem like a bold move. But Provisions on State will actually help Mingrone and McGowan stay Covid-resilient; part of the inspiration for the space came from the restaurant’s early pandemic pivot to selling items like eggs and toilet paper. Having a grocer next door keeps the business in the restaurant alive and makes it easier to do takeout, should the state of Connecticut backslide in its progress controlling the pandemic. Mingrone is also conscious of those who may not be comfortable going inside Provisions. ​“I want to make sure people have a place to get quality stuff. I don’t know if it’s going to be phase one or two of opening this, but this is going to have a strong online presence and online market system that will include home delivery.”

Wrestling a metal shelf into a corner, she and McGowan beamed at the space’s progress. They knew where everything should go; just another aspect of the care and curation at work in the space. Now we just have to wait and ask, ​“Where’s the beef?”