New Butcher Shop at Houston Farmers Market Brings Meat Gurus to the Forefront

Meet the men who want to put the meat on your table. Ryan Cade and Blake Robertson are the guys behind the 2,800-acre R-C Ranch in Brazoria County, dedicated to placing quality, sustainability and the ethical treatment of the farm animals they raise foremost in their business plans. Initially launched in 2010, R-C’s focus has been to raise and sell Wagyu beef, considered by many to be the best beef money can buy

And with more and more people — from nutritionists to climate change activists — advocating that people lessen the quantity of red meats they consume, it makes sense to seek out the best quality when you do eat meat.

The duo has opened their first brick-and-mortar butcher shop at the historic Houston Farmers Market, an exciting place that’s been undergoing rapid change and expansion. This new 3,000-square foot meat market will proffer its R-C Ranch Wagyu, which  follows a “sandwiched breeding process.” One that fuses three Wagyu bloodlines, each of which represents a different region of Japan and its specific gene traits. For example, Kedaka is a cow known for its larger size, Shiname has the best maternal traits, while Tajima is said to produce the best marbling.

“When bred — sandwiched — together, these genetics produce what we think is the perfect product: large cows with beautiful marbling raised sustainably on our ranch,” co-founder Ryan Cade says.

Taking pride in utilizing every part of the carcass and letting nothing go to waste, you can find hand-cut Wagyu cuts such as short ribs, ribeye, sirloin flap, Denver steak, as well as cuts of Heritage pork also raised on the R-C Ranch at this new butcher shop. (Not to mention often hard to find cuts of offal and marrow bones.) In addition, they’ll procure chicken and seafood from other purveyors such as Holmes Poultry, Lonestar Seafood and Copra Foods. The new R-C Ranch Butcher Shop even feature a live Maine lobster tank on-premise.

Utilizing a hands-on approach to processing the meats, the steaks are all dry aged in-house to add a depth of flavor, the charcuterie cured and the sausages are made and smoked in-house on a J&R Oyler oven, a massive appliance that has gained legions of chef fans. Expect to find house-smoked briskets, hind shanks and bones too. If time is of the essence, one can pick up individual and family-sized ready-to-cook meals, marinated meats and fresh meal prep packages of items such as chuck roast and seasoned vegetables.

Finally, the R-C Ranch Butcher Shop is a USDA-inspected facility enabling them to sell to restaurants like Houston’s Bludorn and Georgia James, as well as ship products across state lines.