The Plant Butcher
For most people, the idea of a typical butcher shop evokes glass cases filled with steak slabs and rows of plump sausages. You'll find the very same at Toronto's YamChops with one key difference — absolutely everything is plant-based.
When Julie Boyer and her business partner John Tashjian first met the founders of YamChops at a food show they were intrigued by the unusual concept of a plant-based butcher. With backgrounds in food service and management respectively, the pair was looking for a business opportunity and food venture that "could have a positive impact on our communities, the environment and animal welfare," Boyer explains.
The partners sampled some of YamChops' signature dishes and were immediately "blown away by the flavours and textures," Boyer says. "At that moment, we both knew that this was a business that we needed to be a part of."
And so, Boyer and Tashjian purchased the Little Italy-based business in 2018. It's there that the kitchen whips up dishes such as chick*n schnitzel — best served on a crusty bun, slathered with tomato sauce and sautéed veggies — or its unique carrot lox, made from organic carrots and a special YamChops marinade. Boyer and Tashjian suggest serving it atop a bagel or crackers, along with red onion, fresh dill and vegan cream cheese. In addition to the rotating menu of hot and cold prepared dishes, the store also sells just about everything to satisfy a plant-based craving — from alternative cheeses and milk, to yogurt, pantry items and desserts.
YamChops is meeting a new demand as more Canadians are limiting the amount of meat they eat. According to a recent study from Dalhousie University, 6.4 million people in this country are already following a diet that restricts meat partially or entirely and that number is expected to increase. To this end, Boyer and Tashjian explain the biggest challenge in running a plant-based butcher shop is that they can't grow fast enough.
"Customers ask us daily to open new locations across Toronto, the GTA and in other provinces," she says, while admitting, "we could have worse problems!"
Expansion, as it turns out, is just around the corner. YamChops opened a second location at Front and Bathurst in April as part of Stackt, Canada's largest shipping container market. The new outpost will be a smaller version of the existing store and will feature the same plant-based proteins as the butcher counter with take-out options, too, continually reflecting the shop's motto of "grown, not raised."
YamChops
705 College St., Toronto, Ont.
yamchops.com | 416.645.0117 | @yamchopsto
