Hood is a butcher and co-owner of Old Boy’s Butcher Shop (707 Route 101A, Merrimack, 699-8014). Dave Hood has been working a butcher counter since his teens.
“I worked in a grocery store — DeMoulas — since I was 15, and it was the department that paid the most. That’s how I fell into the profession,” he said. “I worked with Market Basket for 28 years. I was in management since I was 20 years old. We — my wife, Lindsey, [and I] — got out of the spotlight of corporate markets, and we figured we would do something on our own. We just opened up early June of this year. Old Boy’s Butcher Shop is a butcher shop and deli. We make sandwiches, but we specialize in our certified Angus beef program. … They’re free-range steer instead of quarantined. And they’re 100 percent grass-fed. If you’re going to do it, you’ve got to do it right. That’s kind of what sticks us out from the rest of the people. Just being around on a commercial basis and knowing what sells, people expect that consistency with quality. That’s why we decided to do the prime grades, even with our marinades.”
What would you have for your last meal?
Probably a rib-eye steak; it’s my favorite steak. It’s the flavor. It’s your most flavorful steak. It’s from one of the best locations of the animal. I love it.
What is your favorite local eatery?
Buckley’s in Merrimack. It’s the steakhouse with the best-quality meats. I order a rib-eye when I go there, every single time.
Who is a celebrity you would like to see eating in your restaurant?
Keanu Reeves. He is one of the actors in one of my favorite movies. He stars in The Matrix. He’s very humble. I’m always impressed when people can keep their humility.
What is your favorite cut of meat that you sell?
It’s not what we sell; it’s who we’re selling it to. We carry a lot of things in our store from small areas in New England. We support a lot of locally based products as well. We love seeing people come back. They’re not spending a lot of money like they do in other places. We’re trying to offer that quality meats at a reasonable price.
What is the biggest food trend you see in New Hampshire right now?
I see a lot of carnivore diets, which really helps us, people just eating meats. I have clients coming from all the way from Londonderry, Hollis, northern Massachusetts coming up because they do like our grass-fed line.
What is your favorite thing to cook at home?
I love steak, but pizza is my second favorite. Everyone in my house likes their own. I’m a pepperoni type of person. My wife likes Hawaiian, and my son likes nothing on his pizza, just sauce and crust. He’s a purist.
As a meat expert, how would you recommend cooking a steak?
There’s a couple of ways. A lot of people like to cook with cast iron, which is a high-intensity heat; it pretty much sears the outside of a steak, so it prevents the juices from coming out of it. With a prime grade product the marbling keeps it juicy naturally. We also teach people to use cast iron to broil steaks. That involves the same key factors as grilling outside, despite the weather.
Compiled by John Fladd
