A new certified kosher and vegan butcher shop has opened in Rochester, New York. The shop, Grass Fed, serves products like slab bacon, savory breakfast sausage, beer brats, and chicken cutlets—all made entirely from plants! The owners, husband-and-wife duo Rob Nipe and Nora Rubel, decided to set up shop just a few blocks away from an Orthodox synagogue, as a way to introduce the Jewish community to vegan meats that serve as alternatives to animal-based counterparts that they normally abstain from.

Making Meat from Plants

Nipe and Rubel have been vegan for six years. The idea for a vegan butcher shop was born when Nipe, who formerly worked as an analyst for American Red Cross, began to experiment with making meat from plants. After perfecting his recipe for tofu eggs and Philly cheesesteak, both Nipe and Rubel decided to share their plant-based recipes with the community by opening their own vegan business. While Nipe now works as a full-time butcher at Grass Fed, Nobel still attends to her job as a Jewish studies professor at the University of Rochester, and works part-time at the shop.

A Certified Kosher Vegan Butcher Shop

Grass Fed is a certified kosher vegan butcher shop, which means that the restaurant only uses ingredients that adhere to the dietary standards of traditional Jewish law. In order to maintain Grass Fed’s kosher certification, Rabbi Avi Kilimnick, who serves as the rabbi at the shop’s neighboring synagogue—Congregation Beth Sholom—supervises the restaurant.

The Grass Fed Menu

Grass Fed offers a rotating weekly menu that features a variety of vegan meats such as slab bacon, beer brats, savory breakfast sausage, and chicken cutlets. In addition, the butcher shop also serves deli slices like bologna, corned beef, ham, turkey, and pastrami, as well as freshly made sriracha-lime cheese balls.

For all of the latest updates on the butcher shop, visit grassfedrochester.com or check them out on Instagram at @grass_fed_rochester.

Photo credit: Shira Hanau