A Cut Above

Oct 08, 2025 03:50PM ● By Stephen D’Agostino Photography By Monica Darling

"It was like drinking from a fire hose,” Cristy Beram, co-owner of The Village Butcher in Woodstock with her husband Alex, says of the 2021 foliage season, their first as the shop’s owners. “The line was down the street, and we were like, we’ve got to figure something out.” In came Cristy’s mother with a tray of cookies that she passed out to the hungry patrons. People were grateful for the treat, and Alex and Cristy were grateful for the lesson in owning a shop during Woodstock’s busiest season.

Alex explains that in the four years since, The Village Butcher has developed relationships with tour bus companies who order lunches in advance. “You come into town, everything’s ready to go,” he says. With the lunches prepared, it gives tourists “more time to spend in town walking around and seeing the sights.” And it gives Alex, Cristy, and the staff at The Village Butcher a clearer picture of what the lunch rush will look like for any given day.

A Great Business Gets Even Better

The Village Butcher’s success is, in part, due to Alex and Cristy’s ability to adapt quickly, a skill that factored into how they became owners of the shop. They moved to Quechee full time in 2020, and months later, Alex lost his job. Around the same time, he learned The Village Butcher’s owners, George and Linda Racicot, were selling the shop after running it for nearly 50 years. The Berams became the new owners, and Alex put his energy and the skills he learned from working in hospitality to good use. Though there were bumps along the way, Alex and Cristy have made a great business even better.Now, before lunch, even in the offseason, Alex says, “We work hard to try and be prepared before the rush so we can focus on serving customers and getting food out as efficiently as possible.”

Good for People, Animals, and the Environment

It’s not just a seasonal rush or a hungry lunch crowd that presents challenges to The Village Butcher. Over the years, people’s priorities have also changed. For example, concern for the environment is an increasingly hot topic. “People, especially younger people, want to know where their food comes from,” Alex says. “They’re not interested in stuff that’s been trucked, bussed, or flown across the country.”

Alex Beram and Josh Coyle chat with Bill, a regular customer.

Josh Coyle, the butcher, has spearheaded an effort to reduce the butchery’s environmental impact. “It’s been an ongoing process for the last four years,” Alex says, “to make our meat supply as local as possible.” Alex points to pork in particular, which they get from a Vermont family farm. “The farmers are able to get us the quality and the quantity that we need with great consistency.”

The majority of meats in the butcher case are local, but some products, like lamb, are more difficult to procure from nearby farms. Still, Alex and Josh continue working to resolve this. Alex also notes that because their suppliers are small farms that don’t use harmful industrial farming practices, The Village Butcher is helping make a positive environmental impact by the farms they choose to work with.

Alex and Cristy also work with farms that treat their animals humanely. Meat from animals that have been treated with growth hormones or antibiotics will not find its way into The Village Butcher’s meat case. These standards, Alex says, “are good for the animals, good for the farms, good for your body.”

Outside the butchery, the shop has worked to reduce plastics in what they offer. “We have one remaining drink in our cooler that’s in plastic bottles,” Alex notes. Also, all the delicious sides in the deli counter, like roasted vegetables, farro salads, and marinated artichoke hearts—all made in-house—are served in recyclable paper containers.

Delicious Options for Everyone

Of course, not everyone eats meat. But that doesn’t mean The Village Butcher isn’t a place for them to get great food. “We can put together a great plate of various side salads,” Alex says. “We keep some really hearty salads on board. We always have eggs, hard boiled or deviled. We have broccoli salads and roasted vegetables. We have wonderful local soft and hard cheeses.” Alex also notes that there is always a vegetarian sandwich option, like a caprese sandwich with mozzarella, tomato, pesto, and a balsamic reduction. And when Alex fires up the grill in front of the store during the warmer months, he also makes black bean burgers along with the beef burgers or other meats he’s cooking.

With all it offers, does the name Village Butcher define what the shop is? With its stocked meat case and knowledgeable butcher, it certainly is a butchery. But The Village Butcher is so much more. It’s a place to enjoy a very Vermont experience, from friendly greetings when you enter the shop to clean cuts of meat, environmental mindfulness, wines from Vermont and beyond, store-made pot pies for the cooler weather, and delicious vegetables, cheeses, and sides. Perhaps an article cannot do The Village Butcher justice. Maybe it can only be appreciated by experiencing it yourself.