I lost both of my grandmothers within two weeks of one another. I’m extremely thankful to have had them as long as we did. They both got to know my daughter well. I was extremely close to my paternal grandmother, “Ma.” The photographs I made of her in her final days battling cancer are still too hard for me to share even with my family, six years after the fact. Though I wasn’t nearly as close to her, I began photographing my maternal grandmother, Edna Wright, at her home in Seneca, SC a couple years before dementia began stealing her away. She was one of the happiest people I can remember ever knowing. She was never without a smile on her face.
In a tiny shared commercial kitchen on Pendleton Street in the old West Village of Greenville, South Carolina there’s an atypical revival happening. There is no preacher. You won’t find a tent filled with people, but you can find salivation.
After over 15 years in the business, Jeremy Webb has finally decided to hang out his shingle. A carnivore’s wonderland, Revival Butchery is the aptly named new business where old world recipes have been passed down using the oral tradition, each generation adding their own little unique twist, possibly.
His prized kielbasa recipe was handed down to him from an old butcher he worked under who was given the recipe by an old butcher he worked under. That old butcher’s grandfather gave him the recipe that can be traced back to his ancestors in Germany. And that’s just the story on one of over 30+ sausage recipes that are available in Revival’s rotating meat case. Jeremy has been fortunate to have lived, worked and traveled around the globe and he’s making recipes based off these experiences and you’ll only find some of his creations right here in the shop. Editor’s Note :: I’m a really fat guy and have prepared a number of these dishes now and the flavors are truly remarkable. Another note, always trust a fat guy’s recommendations on meat sourcing. While I haven’t had it yet, next up for me is the Thai Fried Garlic Sausage, his most popular item.
The Webbs (yes, Jeremy’s brother, wife and children even pitch in from time to time) want folks to come into the shop with an open mind, hungry belly, and some charcoals warming in the chimney back at the house. His rotating features range from locally sourced meats and cheeses, to mouth-watering deckle steaks, to his incredible artichoke heart and bleu cheese pork pinwheels (a pork loin with sausage and herbs and spices rolled up into a beautiful and delicious pinwheel.) The items are often grill-ready and have a look and taste to make you the culinary hero of the house.
While you’re eating good, you’re also doing good as the business has a mission outside of profits. Revival Butchery works in a think globally, act locally mindset. They sponsor a child, taking care of medical, educational, nutritional, and shelter needs through the Nazarene Compassion Ministries. They hope to add another child every year. They also frequently donate meat to a local men’s homeless shelter in neighboring Spartanburg.
If you’re feeling adventurous, just go into the shop and let Jeremy make recommendations based off what’s available. And if you want to play it safer, place an order ahead of time by emailing order@revivalbutchery.com.
They are located at 1286 Pendleton St in Greenville, SC in the West Village and the shop is open ::
Tue: 10 AM - 2 PM
Wed: 10 AM - 2 PM
Thur: 10 AM - 6 PM
Fri: 10 AM - 6 PM
Sat: 10 AM - 2 PM
My father retired about a year and a half ago and he’s been slap bored out of his mind. He had a church call him for an interim job, preaching on Sundays and teaching on Wednesdays. That’s been a good fit because it gives him the best parts of his old job without all the stress of counseling and weddings and burials and day to day administrative duties. The rest of his time is spent tinkering around with little projects around the house. Redo the carpet in the old boat? Sure, why not? Reorganize the garage? Check. Re-reorganize the garage? Check. Check.
About a year before he retired he got really interested in bees. I’m not really certain what triggered this new passion but he went out with a friend who had bees and he was hooked. When he retired, the folks at the office pooled some cash and bought him a Flow Hive. It’s promise is that you’ll basically raise your bees like normal but the harvesting of the honey is supposed to work from a tap rather than the traditional labor intensive chore of harvesting honey. It also has a window so you can see the gang at work in there, which is pretty rad. It’s sort of the red-headed step child of the bee world, it seems. Every old timer says it’s marketing crap that won’t work. The design community praises it as the best thing since sliced bread. Everyone agrees it is a thing of beauty. We really don’t know yet. Time will tell, I suppose. Dad went ahead and bought a traditional hive to accompany it and set them beside each other so we’ll see, I suppose. I’m pulling for the Flow Hive to be just as successful because it’s a great design and a thing of beauty and it would definitely be a way for lazier people like myself to get into this.
Dad finally got the hive set up in my backyard as his neighborhood has houses on top of each other. Conveniently, his only two grandchildren live where his hives are, too. So, there’s that. We live just outside of the city limits but have a very large yard and I talked to all my neighbors who were cool with it. We’ve had chickens for about 9 years, so they are pretty used to things being a little different over here already. This has been a great new hobby for dad and a new way to spend more time outside, learning and sharing his new passion. He’s taken classes and the folks who sold him his bees and some specialty equipment have been huge resource. They are called the Carolina Honey Bee Company. Check them out. They are great.
Meanwhile, I’ve hired a consultant named Jennifer Kilberg for my business and she’s been stressing that I shoot more stories and so some of that stuff will end up here in the blog I suppose. We’ve been working together for a short while now and she’s helping navigate new waters and get my stuff together. If you have a fun story or know someone who does, I’d love to come document it. Hit me up here @ matthew@matthewfranklincarter.com or text / call me at 864.243.1930. Thanks for following along!
