Cool cuts & community service

The in meat and wine experts at modern gourmet butchery Meatkrafters ensure that you get the perfect meat selection and vinous pairings for your home-cooked meal.

- CHRISTOPHER TAN

Do you remember the community hubs that were old-school provision shops, whose kindly owners always knew just what you needed and liked? Or a time when families and their favourite wet market stalls supported each other faithfully for generations? Back then, supermarkets were feted for convenience more than quality, and independent “gourmet stores” with small but highly specialised selections of rare goods were few and far between.

How much has changed since. Trad provision shops are now all but extinct: gourmet stores curate both luxuries and sundries, all at eye-watering prices; and supermarket chains are stratified to be all things to everyone, from candlenuts to caviar. In such a climate, stepping into Meatkrafters at 19 Ghim Moh Road is like a breath of fresh air, and not just because it has the coldest air-con on its HDB block. Co-founders and spouses Kris Tan and Jessie Toh are attempting to philosophically and practically bridge the gap between the community-serving, homey provision stores of yesteryear, and the posh-goods palaces discerning eaters nowadays seek out.