The shop is the brick-and-mortar side of Laura Posiak-Trider’s quest to generate excitement in an industry sabotaged by commercialism. Laura the Butcher, as she is locally known, stumbled into her profession in rural Italy, where meat is viewed as a delicacy and animals are reared and harvested with respect. 

Until October 2021, Meatbar was a pipedream for Posiak-Trider, who’s become a household name in Routt County for her curated platters and for Meatskool, the hands-on education component of her repertoire. The store emits a European quality with its rust-colored brick walls, hardwood flooring and shelves laden with internationally sourced chocolates and gourmet delicacies. “It’s a reflection of my European mindset; I’m always drawn to the Old World feel,” Posiak-Trider says. 

Glass counters, filled with an assortment of cured meats and rounds of cheeses with names like Midnight Moon and Lamb Chopper, are topped with neatly boxed French macaroons and delicate petit fours. A firetruck-red meat slicer is on display, along with a handful of traditional butchery tools. 

The latest addition to the eclectic display is a 1925 meat slicer on loan from local ranchers Bill and Jay Fetcher. “My dad loved his bacon in the morning and would buy slabs of it in Denver,” Jay says. “Instead of cutting strips by hand, he wanted a meat/cheese slicer so he could turn the slicing job over to his sons.” Jay remembered using it in the ‘50s after his dad came across it in Denver. “After bacon came pre-sliced, the machine was retired, but I used it occasionally to slice up a roast. It sat in the basement of our ranch house until I approached Laura about putting it on display,” he says. “Now it has a good home.” 

In the six months since opening, the team at Meatbar has increased to 13 people, three of whom are local ranchers. “We don’t offer a traditional butchery service, but customers are able to buy cuts of meat directly from their ranches,” Posiak-Trider says. 

Meatbar is a bistro, retail shop, and catering outlet all in one. “People come for the experience, as it’s like nothing else in town,” says head server Kathryn White. This summer Meatbar will host a mix of classes through Meatskool, which Posiak- Trider hopes will encourage even more people to see the value of sustainable agriculture through a positive lens. 

Vist Meatbar at 1009 Lincoln Ave, Steamboat Springs, CO

(https://www.laurathebutcher.com/ltb-meat-bar)