Since April 9, the iconic Harvey’s Market butcher shop in Northeast D.C.’s Union Market food hall is no more. Instead, the space, along with the name rights, have been sold to Brad Feickert, the chef and owner of Soko Butcher and Koma Cafe in Takoma Park.
The Union Market space, now officially known as Harvey’s by Soko, continues to bear the historic Harvey’s Market sign, at least for the time being. But before his departure into a happy retirement, George Lesznar talked about his more than four decades of experience as a butcher in the D.C. region and what’s next for him.
Before he became a butcher, Lesznar said he had considered working with computers, “which were really starting to take off.” He knew butchery was the right field for him in the end, though because, “I knew a lot more about butchering than anything,” in part thanks to his father also being a butcher.
For several years, Lesznar worked as a butcher in the region before eventually joining Harvey’s Market in 1987. This was thanks to him marrying Harriette Chidel, the daughter of Harvey Chidel, who the market is named after.
Harvey’s Market opened in 1931 and joining the historic institution might be intimidating to some.
“Not at all,” Lesznar said. “There’s a sense of confidence when you know your trade.”
Lesznar described the man who bore the store’s name as having a great sense of humor and a “tremendous” amount of knowledge when it came to history. More than that, his father-in-law was just a “great guy.”
“He was one of those people who could talk to anybody,” Lesznar said. “If the president walked in, he would have a conversation with him. If a bum on the street walked in, he wouldn’t disrespect him… He didn’t have any judgment on anybody.”
Lesznar, who was born in D.C., believes being a butcher in the city can be a truly unique experience in comparison to other regions, even locally. The wide amount of foodies in D.C., as Lesznar said, tend to go to butchers with an appreciation for “the fact that cows got thousands of different muscles,” whereas those in the suburbs may tend to opt for whatever is convenient or most affordable in the grocery stores.
Going to a butcher shop has some advantages over going to the grocery store.
“As a butcher shop, we know what the customer is looking for. We know how to tell you how to cook it,” Lesznar said.
The amount of items that Harvey’s Market can carry is also a feat of its own. While most butcher shops carry up to 100 items, the Union Market space offered 400, Lesznar said.
During his time, some of the unique products sold included wild game meat, wild boar, elk meat, bison meat, caul fat, which is the thin, fat membrane that encases the internal organs of animals, and chicken schmaltz, which is rendered chicken fat.
Happy memories at Harvey’s Market often involve the people that are met along the way. Lesznar said notable past customers have included Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and chef and media personality Carla Hall.
What caused him to decide to hang up his apron and sell his space was that his family and kids grew to pursue passions that didn’t involve butchery. The task of finding “that magical person” who could take over was fulfilled with Feickert, who Lesznar said, “has this really nice ability to find talent.”
“He’s going to carry on the Harvey’s tradition of quality and great service,” he said.
On what’s next for Lesznar, he said he hopes to golf more and travel across the U.S. And final parting words of advice for Feickert: “Listen to your customers. They will dictate what you sell and how you conduct your business,” Lesznar said. “I know he’s going to be great with customer service.”
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