Meatloaf from Everett’s Foods and Meats

James Norton / Heavy Table
James Norton / Heavy Table

For the time being, at least, there is no escaping sexy food. Go to Instagram, and you’ll see an endless parade of the same essential dish, over and over again – manicured, impeccable, adorable, gleaming in natural light, made with exotic ingredients, bespangled with foams and brunoised bits, beckoning to you for a mere $9-12 (appetizer) or $16-23 (entree). Food in the age of high-quality camera phones is to be photographed and disseminated as much as it is to be eaten, and we’re all paying a price for that.

Let’s get unsexy for a moment. Let’s get horribly, brutally, unfashionably sexy. The housemade meatloaf at Everett’s is $4.29 a pound, and it comes in a brutal-looking little tinfoil loaf pan. The one that we brought home ($6.50’s worth) could have easily fed a family of four – it was nothing more than a brick of nourishing, full-flavored, herbally seasoned meaty classic goodness, sexy as a tree stump, and fashionable as Cheez Whiz. There may not even be other food words as homely and uninteresting as “meatloaf” – it’s no coincidence that an abomination known as nutraloaf is regarded as one of the least humane punishments in the American prison system, which has no shortage of humiliations and pain to inflict upon its charges.

But here’s the thing: This is cheap food made with care. This is cheap food that you can tuck into with relish, with ketchup, or pickles, or Worcestershire sauce, or with spaghetti sauce on pasta, or as part of a sandwich or wrap. Think of a good meatloaf as a well-made meatball, scaled up and baked into a pan, and treat it as such. It’s not the end of your dining choices, it’s a point of departure. If you make it yourself, the varieties and customization are nearly infinite. If you buy it at Everett’s you’ll be dining on pure comfort, and you’ll do it for less than an order of fries at more than a few local restaurants.

James Norton / Heavy Table
James Norton / Heavy Table

Everett’s is a local treasure, with a meat section that’s a throwback to a time when not only did butchers know their trade, but they got you your dinner for a reasonable price. When we’re not at Everett’s picking up meatloaf, we’re buying high quality frozen turkeys in order to celebrate Thanksgiving in February or obtaining some of the best (and best-priced) ribeyes in town to throw on a grill.

Everett’s Foods and Meats, 1833 E. 38th St., Minneapolis, 612.729.6626

 

One Comment

  1. stoley family

    Did you try their Jalepeno cheddar sausages, house-made bologna and summer sausage or their smoked salmon dip? These are exceptional and really stand out. The best thing about Everett’s isn’t their prices, it’s the quality of their specialty products and the care of the staff. Wish you could have focused more on that!

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