7 June 2023
Piece of Meat. | Randy Schmidt/Eater NOLA
The nationally acclaimed butchery and restaurant will serve its last steak in July
Piece of Meat, Mid-City’s highly acclaimed butcher shop-turned-steakhouse, is closing in July after five years, owners announced in an Instagram post on Wednesday, June 7.
The announcement did not include a specific reason for the closure, reading: “It is with a heavy heart we announce we will be closing our doors at some point in July. We’ve had a blast over the last five years and can’t thank y’all enough for the love and support. Get your meat while ya still can!” Loved equally by industry peers (the restaurant used products from fellow businesses like Flour Moon Bagels throughout the years) and regulars, top comments of support on the post included Turkey and the Wolf, Zasu chef Sue Zemanick, Bayou Saint Cake, and more.
Leighann Smith and Daniel Jackson first opened the New Orleans butcher shop and counter-service sandwich spot on the corner of Bienville and Rendon Streets in April 2018, gaining national attention for their approach to modern butchery and serving some of the city’s best cured and smoked meats. In their first year, Smith and Jackson were together awarded Eater New Orleans’s Chefs of the Year, and Piece of Meat was named one of the best new restaurants by Food & Wine.
Brittney Werner/Eater NOLA
Leighann Smith and Daniel Jackson.
They embarked on a new phase last year, completely transforming the simple space into an edgy but elegant steakhouse utilizing modern techniques and practices, with an emphasis on local and regional animal products and produce. The transition was outwardly successful (even if many New Orleanians missed picking up their products for at-home preparation), and quickly became a new neighborhood go-to for cocktails, date night, group dinners, and excellent preparations of rotating cuts of meat and fish. It also became known for its inventive beef tallow candles, lit for each table at the beginning of the meal and served with grilled bread.
Randy Schmidt/Eater NOLA
Beef tallow candles from Piece of Meat.
Smith and Jackson prided themselves on being able to tell a customer where an animal came from, when it was killed, and how long it had been at Piece of Meat. For a profile in 2019, Smith told Eater, “It’s fascinating that no matter how many times you cut up a pig you learn something — every time. You can do a thousand different things with one animal and each animal tells you what you’re going to do with it.”
Eater has reached out to Smith and Jackson and will update this post with more information accordingly.
Randy Schmidt/Eater NOLA
Inside Piece of Meat in 2022.