Our Story

    The Village Butcher, which started as the brainchild of restaurateur Carl Quagliata and Chef Zach Ladner, brings together both fond memories of a past lifetime and of a bright future.  A mutual interest in old school butchery as well as Quagliata’s long term desire to have an Italian import store led us to the birth of our unique yet comfortingly familiar concept.  The Village butcher both harkens back to a time when you would know your butcher by name and be able to call them up to have your special holiday roast prepared just for you, but also gives you that place you go to get that sandwich that you never knew you couldn’t live without. 

 Quagliata started his quest in the food industry working in his parents’ grocery store, and now at the pinnacle of his career he returns to his roots to show the next generation what buying meat is supposed to be like.  Ladner, who has been working in tandem with Quagliata since 2010, has been enthralled with butchery and utilizing every cut to its fullest potential since culinary school.  He has brought this Passion to Giovanni’s where a significant amount of whole animal butchery and utilization are standard practice in an age where convenience often trumps such endeavors.   Quagliata and Ladner are bringing in a new young talented chef and member of the “Giovanni’s Family” Bradley Zaremba to head the operation on a day to day basis.  Zaremba has worked closely with both Quagliata and Ladner at Giovanni’s and also at their sister restaurant Smokin Q’s BBQ.  He has been honing his craft, and sharpening his skills to help provide Mayfield Village with some of the best meat around.  

We strive to source the finest meats from local and heritage breed sources, and seek to develop close relationships with local ranchers to get their amazing products to our customers.  Our custom dry age chamber will further embody our devotion to the “old school” ways at the Village Butcher.  Our open kitchen will allow our customers to witness the making of several of our fresh made pastas and sauces that can be purchased retail, the recipes of which have been carefully crafted over the last 46 years at Giovanni’s.  Our “grocery section” will feature a variety of Italian meats, cheeses, and dry pastas that ordinarily may be quite difficult for people to get on their own, but are now able to be enjoyed at a moment’s notice.  Our signature sandwiches, each of which is inspired by people who Ladner and Quagliata have worked closely with, will be not only delicious, but fun and exciting.  Each one will carry with it a combination of flavors we can only describe as their personality.