In January 2010, Nathan McCall and wife Karen Yoo open McCall’s Meat & Fish Co. in Los Feliz. The Sona and Restaurant Daniel veterans are transforming a 700-square-foot T-shirt boutique into a “rustic but modern environment” that will showcase Certified Angus Beef, dry-aged steaks, all-natural Berkshire pork and locally sourced poultry. “Nathan will hand select seafood from the downtown fish markets where LA’s sushi chef’s shop,” says Yoo. “As trained chefs we will also be able to share with you ideas, and tips on how to prepare products. We also plan to incorporate workshops in the future to educate our customers on butchering and cooking.” McCall will handle the majority of the butchering, and Yoo will devote herself to customer service and the business side of things. They’ll both work the counter.

“Our cases will feature exquisitely marbled cuts of beef, perfectly portioned fresh fish, house made sausages and more,” reads the website’s “About Us” page. “We only source meat from traditional farms where animals are naturally and humanely raised on the best feed without the use of hormones or chemical enhancements. Our fish is wild-caught and/or responsibly farm raised in the most natural environment.”

McCall’s won’t be selling any prepared or cooked foods, but you will find some pre-tied, pre-seasoned roasts that are ready to pop in the oven.

The couple originally planned to open a restaurant, but “heartbreak and frustration” made them realize the timing wasn’t right. That’s when Yoo remembered a transformative Manhattan experience. “When we were living in New York working at Restaurant Daniel, we used to take the bus through the Upper East Side to get to work and we would pass Lobel’s Prime Meats which is a New York institution,” recounts Yoo. “One day Nathan brought home one raw $48 dollar dry aged New York steak, at first I was shocked at how much money he had spent, but when I tasted it, it was unlike anything I had ever had before. It was extremely tender and tasted of beef and cheese and mushroom. We realized that Los Angeles was definitely lacking in great retail butcher shops, and most people bought their meat and fish at larger grocery stores. As chefs we are passionate about quality ingredients and we are excited to share that passion with our customers, whether it is in a restaurant setting or a retail setting.” This doesn’t mean that McCall and Yoo have given up on their restaurant dream. They plan to refocus on L’AMI Restaurant in a couple years.