What To Buy At Belcampo Meat Company | Tasting Table Los Angeles

The first paying customer at Belcampo Meat Company in Grand Central Market made quite the splash.

According to the staff, an elderly woman walked up, slapped a $100 dollar bill on the counter, and walked away with a whole goat's head.

Belcampo, which also has a store in Marin County and will open a Santa Monica location in April, isn't your average butcher shop. All of the grass-fed, humanely-raised meat on display is sourced from Belcampo's ranch in Shasta Valley, where using the whole animal isn't just an ethos–it's a practical business model.

Belcampo's dry-aged cheeseburger

After wolfing down a delicious dry-aged burger ($12) and beef tallow fries with house-made ketchup ($4) for lunch, we talked to head butcher Jered Standing about three under-the-radar cuts and how to prepare them.

Beef Heart ($8 per pound)

"I usually insist that customers have this cut trimmed into very thin filets and then grill it on long skewers. If you marinate it with soy sauce and citrus it balances some of the meat's iron flavor."

Pork "Secreto" ($16 per pound)

"This is one of my favorite pork cuts. It's trimmed from a well-marbled area between the belly and ribs. All it needs is a little salt and pepper."

Goat Neck ($14 per pound)

"This is an ideal braising cut. Put it in a crock pot for a few hours and the meat falls right off the bone. It has tons of flavor and is great in chili."