ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Just as more restaurants, eateries and ordinary consumers embrace Meatless Mondays, Old Town food emporium Society Fair is going whole hog -- or at least cow -- in the other direction on the first day of the work week.
Society Fair’s chef, butcher and charcutier, Julien Shapiro, will be leading special 90-minute "Beast" artisan butchery sessions on Mondays once a month, where up to 10 people can sign up to watch him demonstrate his skills. Those who attend get to sample some of the meat along the way and have first dibs on specialty cuts.
This season's sessions, which kick off this Monday, will focus on the Randall Lineback heritage breed, but later iterations of Beast might feature other animals, like lamb.
The Beast sessions are $45 per person and must be reserved in advance by emailing CircusActs@SocietyFair.net. There's a limit of 10 seats per session, so act fast if you want in on this Monday's session.
Society Fair, a food market at 277 S. Washington St. that includes a wine shop, test kitchen, exhibition space and bakery, opened late last year and is owned by the duo behind Restaurant Eve, The Majestic, Eamonn's and Virtue Feed and Grain -- chef Cathal Armstrong and his wife Meshelle.