man and woman at butcher shop
Dan and Candy Grilz at J. Morten's Meat Market
I am guilty of social-stalking the J. Morten's Meat Market feeds. For some people self-care means small indulgences like daily ice cream or new tech purchases, mine is Japanese beef. The fatty, lush, overly marbled Wagyu to be clear.
And since Dan Grilz opened his Wagyu-focused meat shop way out Hugo way (ya know, just past White Bear Township but not quite Centerville), I was content with scrolling instead of hauling out there for a bit longer. Until I heard the good news.
J. Morten's is opening a second shop in the 50th & France neighborhood, hopefully by March. Grilz is taking over the closed Caribou Coffee spot, and needs only to do some light revamping to the space to bring it to full meaty glory.
When Grilz left the cheffing life in 2017, after time spent in Chicago and at local spots such as Bayport Cookery, he thought he might just grab a job cutting meat at a grocery store since he always enjoyed it. "But then I said: nope, I'm going to do my own spot," Grilz told me. "I always wanted to deal with high-end meats: The coolest, craziest, no-limits best beef I could get that you couldn't find in most shops. We get things that you can't find anywhere else, and we cut to order."
What we're talking about is Australian and Japanese Wagyu, which makes up the bulk of his business. But Grilz also offers custom dry-aged prime beef, heritage pork from Fischer Farms, among other things, "and we'll see how it goes in the city. Maybe we'll start bringing in more pheasant, quail, and Jidori chickens if there's a desire for them." Can I get a HellYeah on those chickens, which are often called the Kobe of poultry.
Like Kobe beef, these are expensive cuts. But apparently there's a market for it, "I keep thinking I'm going to lose my shirt when I bring in something big, but then it sells out. We priced some Japanese beef for $350/lb, and we sold out."
Grilz and his wife Candy opened the Hugo shop in May of 2019. Hugo was close to where they lived, showed good signs of growth, and the rent deal was way better than anything else he could find. Sensing that slapping his name on the shop might seem a tad gimmicky, Grilz named it after his grandmother, Juanita Morten. The first year was a bit of struggle, figuring out the mix of product and flow of customer traffic. But they pushed social media and marketing hard in the winter and found a loyal base.
Then came spring and COVID hit. "I stood outside of the Festival parking lot across the street, and I just watched everyone panic-buying. I thought: ok, they're going to get sick of all that hamburger at some point." Sure enough, they did. Suddenly he found himself pushing 300lbs. of meat out the door as dining-out budgets turned into dining-in budgets and people became fascinated with new and interesting ingredients.
It has been a one-man operation, with Grilz working 200 straight days right up to Halloween before taking a break. With the opening of this new location, he's brought on Sam Daigle, former chef de partie of Demi. "The goal is to keep it simple and just like the Hugo store. Sure we have some aspirations and ideas working, but to start we'll just be selling and cutting the best meat we can get."
Did I walk out of that shop with a $70 Australian Wagyu ribeye? It's my birthday month, of course I did. It was worth every bite. And I even shared. Tho, I might have to re-budget my life differently, starting in March.
ribeye in a bag
Reverse sear: 200 degree oven until internal temp reaches 120, then hard sear in butter and garlic in cast iron, one minute per side. Woof.
