Chef Mendizabal: Urban Butcher is 'Culmination of Being Alive...42 Years'

Urban Butcher, the new "nose-to-tail" restaurant in Silver Spring, opens this Thursday at 8226 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring.

Urban Butcher's founder Chef Raynold Mendizabal is a long-time restaurant industry veteran. 

According to the website for the restaurant Lima, where he formerly worked, Mendizabal is also a physics and math researcher, and he moved to the U.S. from Cuba in 1995. He's also worked at Pesche, Aguardiente and Ceviche.

Mendizabal moved to Silver Spring, about a block from the restaurant, earlier this year "to commit myself to Urban Butcher." 

"The idea for Urban Butcher started to become a realization for me three years ago, but in reality ... [it's] a culimination of being alive, meeting people, having experiences, etc. over the past 42 years," he told Patch.

Urban Butcher will offer an eclectic menu of local meats and a wide selection of wine. The restaurant will cure and age "cuts from heritage breeds of livestock chosen for the natural flavors they take from the land on which they freely graze," and will have a custom-designed, glass-enclosed curing cellar as well as an in-house butchering kitchen, according to a restaurant news release.

While Urban Butcher will offer many different cuts and types of meat, Mendizabal is not worried about getting customers to try new things.

"An idea at our core is the trust of our community. It's not about the cut, it's about trust. Once we have that trust, there won’t be a challenge of getting customers to try things," he said.
 
And, Mendizabal doesn't pick and choose favorites among different cuts and meats.

"Do I have to choose? That's impossible," he said.

Urban Butcher opens at 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12, at 8226 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring. Read more about Urban Butcher on its website and on Silver Spring Patch.

Initially, Urban Butcher will offer dinner and happy hour. Lunch, brunch, a coffee shop throughout the day and a butcher shop are planned for early 2014, according to a restaurant spokesperson.

Note the restaurant's initial hours: Monday through Thursday, 5 p.m. to midnight; Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. On Sundays, Urban Butcher will open at 5 p.m., and Sunday's closing time is still to be determined. Dinner will be served from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 6 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. "Happy Hour" is every day to closing.

For more information on Urban Butcher, visit the restaurant's website (www.urbanbutcher.com), Facebook page and Twitter stream (it's the one and only @UrbanButcher), or call 301-585-5800.