As the city begins to thaw out from the harshness of winter, a small butcher shop in Ridgewood bustles with orders from local customers. At the helm of this establishment is a stocky man of Romanian descent.
Jonel Picioane and his family have run the Ridgewood European Pork Store since 1975; however, the butcher shop has been in service since the 1930s, long before Jonel and his family made Ridgewood their home.
Various smoked meat and sausages hang off hooks that line the interior of the small butcher shop.
Cutting slices of fresh bacon that is cured and smoked on site for an eager customer.
Choices, choices, choices.
With the sounds of 1970’s punk music playing through the small speakers behind the counter, Jonel prepares cold cuts during the afternoon rush.
Orders come in, meat goes out.
Over the years Jonel’s butcher shop has received recognition from various newspapers for the shops delicious meats. People come from all over for a piece of the action.
Customers as far as Japan seek the smoked meats that are made on site below the shop. Jonel claims that it’s the only smoker like it in New York City. It’s apparently so special that he wouldn’t even show it to me.
A piece of pork leg sits on the butcher’s block while Jonel tends to customers.
Eastern Europeans take their pickles very seriously. These definitely don’t taste like Heinz’s.
It may all look the same, but flavors include everything from jalapeño and onions to chorizo.
Over the sounds of 90s industrial music and post-punk, Jonel told stories about growing up in the shop that his father once ran. During that time, Ridgewood was mostly German and Eastern European, and New York City was having an artistic renaissance similar to that of Bushwick today.
A drawing of Porky the Pig, by Jonel’s son, Matthew, hangs proudly in the shop surrounded by various smoked meats.
Jonel fills the display case with fresh un-smoked meat, a daily routine at the shop.
This is one of the first tasks that Jonel does at the shop: meticulously removing the ribs from the pork before the meat can be cured and smoked. “You can’t find meat cut like this at a grocery store, I can bet you that,” Jonel said.
Jonel, or “Jon” as many customers call him, says jokingly, “I was born with a butcher knife in my hand.” Born in Serbia, he immigrated to the US with his family when he was one.
Pig figurines are scattered throughout the shop and windowsills.
After a long day, Jonel cleans up before heading over to close up his second butcher shop in Sunnyside, Queens. It’s popular, but it lacks the Bavarian aesthetic that the makes up the Ridgewood Pork Store.
Jonel closes the shop marking the start to the long holiday weekend and thus ending a long day at the Pork Store.
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