It’s possible to mistake Lakeview Supermarket & Deli in Lucerne for the most popular attraction in the county.
The place may not look like a draw from the outside, but guests pour in from as far away as Redding. The butchers in back grind close to 200 pounds of beef on a typical day, and customers whisk all of it away. Hundreds of “Meat Pack” boxes go out to homes around the lake. They sell 600 chickens each month, along with slabs of bacon, prime steaks, thick pork chops and more — amounting to $80,000 worth of protein.
“No wonder we go through one or two miles of meat wrap every single week,” said owner and veteran butcher Kenny Parlet, just after cutting 82 pounds of pork on Wednesday morning. “It just goes on and on and on. It’s a pretty happening place.”
Lakeview Supermarket & Deli is also one of the few more traditional meat markets left. Shelves are lined with marbled cuts of wet-aged red meat, graded USDA prime or choice. But the staff will also cut steaks to order, fix up the makings of fajitas, grind sausage, chop beef into ruddy tartare and so on.
It’s a reminder of the neighborhood butcher shops of yore.
And why not? Parlet has worked the counter for 37 years in Lucerne, along with a few more in Lakeport before that. He watched as the gleaming grocery chains began to overwhelm smaller operations, one after another. He saw processed foods take over the shelves and pre-packaged meats clutter the deli section.
“The problem is a meat department is real labor intensive and profit margin — there’s not a lot of money in it,” Parlet observed. “But people appreciate the fact that we care about quality.”
In some ways, the market is a throwback to the days when butchers served a long apprenticeship before allowed to wield a knife on their own.
“You don’t let anybody cut meat unless they know what their doing,” Parlet said.
The market’s regulars appreciate the one on one service, certainly. But quality is equally important. Beef is wet aged for at least 21 days before Parlet or his staff put their blades to it. They select trimmings of chuck for the grinder and cut pork thicker than the chops found in most groceries.
Parlet also brings in specialty items, from richly marbled American Wagyu beef to more exotic items. On Wednesday, for example, he was expecting an order of rabbit.
Meanwhile, he had those 82 pounds of freshly cut pork to trim, scrape and wrap. One wonders if, when he kicks back at home, the idea of a glistening chop for dinner holds any appeal.
“Sometimes I think ‘if I look at one more pork steak …’” Parlet said with a laugh.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016.
