Aged beef: How a Spanish-inspired butcher shop found its niche serving top chefs

Leandro Loureiro, now 37, stands at the helm of Estancia Jesús María, a butcher shop in Palomar that has shifted from a high-volume neighborhood business to a niche purveyor of aged beef. Loureiro's passion for meat was ignited in childhood, surrounded by family involved in the trade. "My whole circle was meat," he recalls. "My mother came with things from the cold storage, and my father from the butcher shop; there was no escape. I always say the same thing: I was born to be a butcher."

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My whole circle was meat. My mother came with things from the cold storage, and my father from the butcher shop; there was no escape. I always say the same thing: I was born to be a butcher.

His current venture focuses on "vaca vieja madurada" – aged old cow meat – a product that has garnered the attention of renowned chefs and restaurants. Estancia Jesús María supplies establishments like Sagardi, Elena, Trescha, Furia Puro Fuego in Mar del Plata, and Palacio Duhau - Park Hyatt Buenos Aires. The shop also provides burgers to local eateries such as Ribbs al Río.

However, this success was not immediate. Loureiro's path involved years of working in his father's butcher shop from a young age, a period of over two years in refrigeration work, amateur boxing, and an internal crisis that prompted a significant shift in his business model. "My father instilled work in me from a very young age," he notes.

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My father instilled work in me from a very young age.

Loureiro recounts learning the complete process of butchery, from breaking down the carcass to mastering finer cuts. "When I finished learning to do the whole half-carcass, because I knew how to cut it but didn't know how to get into the finer cuts like disassembling a quarter, I felt I had achieved what I was looking for," he says. This dedication to mastering the craft underpins his current specialized approach.

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When I finished learning to do the whole half-carcass, because I knew how to cut it but didn't know how to get into the finer cuts like disassembling a quarter, I felt I had achieved what I was looking for.