A cut above...

"I have never bought meat that has not come from the butcher," Paul Vaccari reflects. "My dad even used to send me care packages when I was in college!" But then he's a third-generation owner of Piccinini Brothers, considered one of the great old-guard meat purveyors of New York City, so meat is his currency.

Back in the 1920s, his grandfather Guido opened the original store, just a block away from where Piccinini Brothers now stands in Hell's Kitchen. From the very beginning, their ambition was to supply the city's restaurants with the best quality meats, and they have never faltered. Intrigued by the creative side of the business, Paul was always eager to collaborate on new projects with chefs, and in particular David Bouley. "David was very instrumental in helping us with the way we now age our meats. We adapted a lot of our agingroom specifications according to his needs."

Paul Vaccari and David Bouley share the same passion for quality and are working together to source more local farm--raised animals, selecting lamb, rabbit, and poultry from farms in New York State, as well as pigs and goats from New Jersey. In the end, it is the result of what is on the diner's plate that makes this butcher-and-chef relationship so beneficial.