Baltimore Chef Spike Gjerde to Open Parts & Labor

Baltimore restaurateurs Spike and Amy Gjerde have announced plans for a staggered opening of their anticipated new butcher shop/restaurant, Parts & Labor. As Spike Gjerde told Eater last Fall, the expansion is part of his plan to create a food system around his flagship Woodberry Kitchen, "creating a bigger footprint for that system to support everything we want to do." According to a press release, the butcher shop will open first, later this month, with George Marsh practicing traditional French seam butchery, which minimizes waste by cutting along the seams of an animal's muscles. They'll be getting their meats from the likes of Liberty Delight Farm, Whistle Pig Hollow, Rettland Farm, and Many Rocks Farm.

Then, in April, Gjerde will open the restaurant component of Parts & Labor, which will feature cooking entirely from a tricked-out stone hearth. The menu includes cured meats, "one-pot" dishes, steak, pork chops, and about 20 kinds of sausages. There's also going to be a serious beer situation with 24 taps, a focus on Maryland brews, and a growler station. Here's the release:

The press release:

SPIKE AND AMY GJERDE TO OPEN PARTS & LABOR IN REMINGTON

Baltimore, Maryland (March 10, 2014) – Spike and Amy Gjerde are planning a staggered spring opening for Parts & Labor, their full service retail butcher shop and restaurant that will be located at 2600 North Howard Street in the Remington neighborhood of Baltimore. The opening will begin with the launch of the butcher shop in late March, with the restaurant to follow in April. This will be the fourth restaurant for the Gjerdes, including Woodberry Kitchen, Artifact Coffee and Shoo-Fly, all located in Baltimore.

Housed in a 5,000 square-foot space that once served as a car repair and tire shop, Parts & Labor is a natural extension of the intensive, in-house whole animal butchery program set up by Spike and Head Butcher George Marsh to service Spike's restaurants' needs. The butcher shop will not only provide them with increased space to operate this program, it will also help them further facilitate the connection between local growers and the Baltimore community.

Marsh's expertise in seam butchery – a traditional French butchery method that highlights the product with minimal waste – will be showcased in the retail shop's featured cases, which will include cuts of Liberty Delight Farm beef, Whistle Pig Hollow and Rettland Farm pork and Many Rocks Farm goat on a regular basis, in addition to salami and patés.

The 84-seat restaurant, expected to open next month, will feature cooked items prepared solely by the restaurant's 10 x 4 foot stone hearth, which was designed by Spike and built by local mason Justin Tagg from reclaimed Baltimore city cobblestones. The hearth is outfitted with a grill, a swinging arm and an a la ficelle (a French term for cooking meats on a fire by dangling them from a string) all built by master blacksmith Randy Slaysman. A throwback to the central role played by the hearth in mid-Atlantic cookery, the custom-built piece also allows for greater temperature control during the cooking process.

The menu will predominantly showcase a la carte offerings, including several different cuts of steak, pork chops, 20 different kinds of sausages and roasted seasonal vegetables. Guests can construct their own meals from the variety of offerings, enjoy featured "one-pot" dishes, such as chilis and stews, or arrange their own cured meat board from the extensive selection of hams, terrines and sausages.

Parts & Labor's beer program, led by Jayce Flickinger, will feature a unique system of 24 taps, all held at multiple serving temperatures and poured in glassware appropriate to each beer's style. The beer menu will mirror the kitchen's sourcing, lead and focus, showcasing Maryland breweries as much as possible. A growler station will also allow guests the options of taking their preferred beers home.

In addition to overseeing Parts & Labor, Marsh and his team of three butchers will still be responsible for supplying meat and charcuterie to the Gjerdes other establishments, Woodberry Kitchen, Artifact Coffee and Shoo-Fly.

ABOUT PARTS AND LABOR
Parts and Labor is a full-service butcher shop and restaurant located in 2600 N. Howard St., in Baltimore, MD. Follow Parts & Labor on Twitter and instagram at @PartsLabor.

· All Spike Gjerde Coverage on Eater [-E-]
· All Baltimore Coverage on Eater [-E-]