Summer Guide

Here Piggy Piggy Piggy: Where to Get Summer’s Best Grillables

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Photo: Danny Kim/New York Magazine

Looking for meats fit for a five-star kitchen for your summer barbeque? Click through our slideshow to find out the best spots for whole pigs, Spanish blood sausage, live crawfish, and more.

The Lobster Place Chelsea Market, 75 Ninth Ave., nr. 15th St.; 212-255-5672 „When the urge to throw a Big Easy–style crawfish boil hits, it can be hard finding the critters in this Yankee town. Luckily, live ones are typically available on Fridays and Saturdays at the Lobster Place. And should you need a midweek fix, tail meat and bagged crawfish are always available in the freezer case. Live crawfish, $10.95 per pound; call to reserve. Three-pound pre-seasoned crawfish-boil bags, $19.95 each; tail meat, $23.95 for a one-pound bag.
Jackson Live Market 316 Jackson Ave., nr. E. 141st St., the Bronx; 718-665-1441   „The absolute freshest chicken is one slaughtered that day. Call ahead to specify your preferred size of whole fowl (four-, six-, or eight-pound), and they’ll get it ready for pickup. Alternatively, you can select the bird you fancy most and have it killed while you wait. Butchers will also break down the bird upon request. Whole chickens, $1.49 to $1.89 a pound.
Fleisher’s Grass-Fed & Organic Meats 192 Fifth Ave., nr. Berkeley Pl., Park Slope; 718-398-6666 The burger snob’s chuck of choice, this Hudson Valley import’s meats are ground fresh each morning, sourced from animals raised without hormones or antibiotics. There’s a juicy beef-and-bacon blend, “bork” (half-beef, half-pork), pork, or lamb, plus cheeses and all the artisanal fixings a sandwich could dream of. Beef, bork, and pork, $6.49 a pound; beef and bacon, $8.99 a pound; lamb, $11.99 a pound.  
The Meat Hook Brooklyn Kitchen, 100 Frost St., nr. Leonard St., Williamsburg; 718-349-5033   The city’s most experimental butcher is also the best source for eclectic tube steaks. Wholly new inventions include the Long Dong Bud (pork with roasted jalapeños, pepper-jack cheese, and Texas Pete hot sauce) or the Bacon Cheeseburger blend, made with Cheddar and bacon bits. They’re all grill-ready and fit winningly inside Martin’s potato rolls, which they also sell. Hot dogs, $10.99 to $12.99 a pound.
Wild Edibles 535 Third Ave., nr. 36th St.; 212-213-8552   Hit up this sustainability-minded fishmonger when you want the freshly harvested cherrystone and top-neck bivalves that make for the best clambake. If you call ahead, staff will assemble the whole shebang for you, throwing in lobsters, corn, seaweed—plus butter and lemon to garnish. Clams start at $1.25 each; prices for clambakes vary. Photo: Danny Kim/New York Magazine
Dickson’s Farmstand Meats Chelsea Market; 212-242-2630   If you’re hankering to roast a whole animal, this Chelsea Market butcher has several options, all of them sustainably raised on small family farms upstate. Call about a week ahead to reserve smaller skin-on pigs (25-to-80 pounds), larger skin-on or skinless swine (80-to-250 pounds), or whole lambs. Fear not, clueless neophytes: Thanks to its new catering arm, Dickson’s can rent out its rotisserie or bring a smoker and cook for you on site. Pigs, $5.50 to $7.50 per pound; lambs, $6.50 to $9 a pound.
Despaña 408 Broome St., nr. Cleveland Pl.; 212-219-5050   The Spanish-foods hub is known for cured jamón, but its morcilla, an authentic blood sausage made at Despaña’s Queens facility from a traditional recipe of Asturias, Spain, is just as delicious. Its ingredients (pig’s blood, onion, and spices including paprika, nutmeg, and cinnamon) give it a sweet flavor that tastes great with a smoky char. A one-third-pound package is $5.50.
Here Piggy Piggy Piggy: Where to Get Summer’s Best Grillables