P. & E. Mullins Local Foods & Cured Meats - New Buffalo, MI

In this mouth-watering post, Da Beef extols the virtues of this small but mighty shop, where he bought some house-made pancetta that he used to make a great-looking BLT. On the way to a friend's house in Michigan yesterday, REB and RAB remembered the post and encouraged us to stop in and check it out, which we did. It was well worth the detour . . .



The sign pretty much says it all
"P. & E." are better known as Pat and Ellie Mullins, who, according to the shop's website, met while working at Hungry Cat in Santa Barbara. Pat is also an alum of Blackbird and Pizzeria Delfina in San Francisco.



P. & E. Mullins Local Sustainable Foods & Cured Meats - 424 E Buffalo St, New Buffalo, MI



The centerpiece case
A nice assortment of fresh cuts and house-crafted items.



Cheese, Fruit and Water
Given the condition of this year's crop, it was a nice treat to find some MI tart cherries in the case.



Duck Ham
I bought a piece but haven't tried it yet



Rendered Duck Fat
As pictured above, there's a lot more than duck in this case -- we also bought some breakfast sausage, some bacon, and a smoked pork chop, all of which were excellent -- but I always enjoy seeing a product like this because it indicates an assuring level of commitment.



We missed the Bacon Jam by one day but hope to eventually try it.



Product/Price List



Produce
A nice selection of locally grown produce is available.



Cayenne Peppers
Had I not received a bag of these recently in my CSA, I would have bought a handful here.

Thanks, Beef, for putting this spot on the radar, and REB & RAB for incenting us to make a quick detour and check it out. I made a little of the breakfast sausage and bacon this morning and thought they were great. We really liked the smoked chop, too. I look forward to trying the duck ham asap.

=R=

P. & E. Mullins Local Sustainable Foods & Cured Meats (website)
424 E Buffalo St
New Buffalo, MI 49117
(269) 231-5138

Visited there for the first time about 2 weeks ago. Its a small house alongside the road. I drove past it, as I'm sure I have done several times in the past few years. THere's a little bit of extra parking around back.

From what I had read, I didn't expect there to be quite as much variety as there was. The produce looked wonderful. But I was there for the sausages. Got some merguez and spicy fennel. Also, a package of ground duck. The spicy fennel was very good, but the merguez was exceptional. Best sausage I've had in 6 - 9 months.

I'll being going back on Friday to get some more sausages, and I've got a hog's head on order. Looking forward to some gooood eats.

Ronnie,

Thanks so much for starting this thread. I have been meaning to, but never got to it.

I wish there was a branch in the Chicago area, especially on the North Shore. I get to Union Pier regularly and we normally cook. Local is my first stop and I fill in around it from the farmers markets and farm stands (when open), Sawyer Market, and Barney's.

Ellie and Pat are good people and they have great taste. Great organic produce (including unusual items), nuts (delicious organic walnuts), cheeses, Granola Girl granola, and of course fabulous meats. The pancetta and guanciale may be my favorites, but we have sampled a LOT of what they sell.

All of the meats they sell are raised sustainably by small local family farms and they are humanely processed. I have chatted with Pat about their vendors and practices.

If you are in the area it is a must if you are cooking. They are a VERY small operation, so you must be flexible, they may not have everything you are looking for on a particular visit. They don't have large quantities of everything and they occasionally sell out of an item. Buy what they have with confidence that it will be very good and will be good for you.

Ellie and Pat, thanks for running such a treasure.

Best,
Al

I now know where I'm celebrating my birthday Sunday.

Thanks to this thread, Cabbagehead and I stopped in at Mullins as we were leaving New Buffalo on Monday. What a wonderful operation! We bought bacon, duck fat, and their brats, and all are excellent. The large brats are on the mild side, but flavorful and without excess fat. Not Miesfeld's good, but very good. The bacon is outstanding. We ate it last night in BLTs, and it smelled wonderfully smokey as it cooked (my son said it smelled like we were grilling or smoking), and it tasted a bit smoky, a lot porky, and completely delicious. The duck fat is a treat. I used some to fry potatoes to go with our grilled brats on Tuesday night. We also bought a jar of The Brinery's (of Ann Arbor) fermented root vegetables (turnip and beets mostly), which is powerfully sour and a deep red color. I think they'll be good as torshi with hummos or rich meats.

We also had a terrific dinner at Stop 50, our first visit. Wow! - Everything was fantastic. I can't add to the praise already given to this GNR, but I did get a kick out of their location. As a kid, I spent a lot of time staying with a dear friend's family in Michiana. I wish Stop 50 had been there then instead of the little grocery store (was it called Ted's?) that occupied that storefront back in the day.

I made my first visit to Local yesterday - what a great place! We got some fresh bratwurst and smoked Allemands (a Thuringer variation) for dinner last night, and both were excellent. They also have a nice selection of produce from local farms and some cured meats and cheeses from other providers. You can easily put together a great platter of bread, meat, cheese and vegetables as well as an entire meal. This is definitely going to be our new go to place when we're in the area - we've already been back to get some bacon and bacon jam for breakfast tomorrow.

Just back from several days in Union Pier and three shopping visits to Local. Cooking for eight we purchased a lot of fabulous produce (vegetables and fruit), cheeses (love the creamy Roth Case butttermilk Blue), nuts, various sausages, Swan Creek Farms skirt steak, pork tenderloins, smoked and fresh chicken breasts, ground beef, and of course, Pat's bacon. I have mentioned this before, but if you are cooking in SW Michigan, you have to stop at Local first, then fill in somewhere else (Barney's, Sawyer Market, Farmers Markets, etc).

It has been a busy spring/early summer and hadn't been to Local since late March. Ellie and Pat said business has been better than ever, even with our cool weather. They were crowded every time we stopped in this trip. Wonder when they will outgrow their current space...

Bought extra bacon to bring home and last night used some with super ripe, fresh black figs (from Amidei Mercantino in Lake Forest), leeks, chevre, and hazelnuts (from our recent trip to Piemonte) over eight grain spaghetti.

Just back from 9 days in Union Pier cooking for 10. Was in Local almost every day. LOTS of different, awesome local produce and meats, and miscellaneous stuff. Some highlights were fabulous thick lamb chops (marinated in fresh lemon juice, EVOO, garlic, thyme/rosemary, and Dijon mustard and grilled), ground lamb (great lamb burgers), Happ's bacon, the first batches of Granor Farms potatoes, and Mick Klug Farms sungold cherry tomatoes.

Always stock up on the way home. Produce and 20 lbs of Gunthorp Farms chicken breasts and 6 pork tenderloins. My wife now has a hard time buying meat from anyone else. Fortunately we get back fairly often.

Everybody who is in there shopping when I am is as passionate about Local as I am. They have a strong following. Ellie and Pat just do a great job. If you have questions ask them, they eat all of their own items and will steer you right.

I like to think that I know my bacon, as I search for the good stuff all the time. I was in New Buffalo for a wedding last weekend and I knew that I had to make a stop at Mullin's Local based on the rave LTH reviews. . WOW! I order Benton"s Bacon regularly, as it is a really good, heavily smoked, carefully made product that is worth the effort to procure. But I bought a few pounds of thick sliced from Mullins to make the comparison. While Benton's is wonderful, so is the Mullin's . While slightly different than the super smoked Benton's, Mullin's bacon was not only really extra lean, but had a deep, almost sweeter, rich flavor that was not only smoke, but tasted of the wonderfully assertive spice rub that complimented the smoke. I also bought the wonderful bacon jam, as well as their homemade Polish. They are all wonderful. While the bacon is more expensive than Benton's, it is well worth the price. I will buy it again on my next trip to Michigan. Nice people, great products and service. Once again, I got a great lead from my fellow LTHers. Thanks.

Had a new Local item amongst several old favorites, hangar steak. Awesome. Have had their skirt and flank several times, but this was even better.

This was a first for a weekend, no visits to Barney's or Sawyer Market. My buddy did bring a couple of things up, but we cooked five meals with items from Local, Skip's farmers market, and some farm stands.

My first visit this spring on a four day weekend and visited twice. Made a very nice dinner on my return tonight. Used some awesome red oak leaf (?) lettuce, arugula, and radishes in a pear salad and ramps and Pat-cured pancetta in a great pasta dish.

My plan of starting at Local and filling in at at later stop is needed since their produce selections in the spring are limited, but what is there is excellent. Bought some carrots that I made in MI and assumed they were grown in a hot house. Whne I bought more today on my way out of town, I asked Ellie about it and she said they were harvested last fall and cellared at the farm. I would never have known, they were great sautéed in EVOO/butter with salt, pepper, and fresh basil.

We were in a few times last weekend. All of the meats we had were great, as usual. Loved the fresh peas from Mick Klug Farms. Sautéed some sweet onion and diced orange peppers in EVOO and butter and added the peas. Fabulous.

I asked about what looked like a new deck on the north side of the building. Ellie said they were putting on an addition. The main entrance and register will move there. They have already added to the kitchen on the south side. Great to see them doing well. When we are in town we tend to shop everyday and hit Local first. Except when I have to stock up prior to their days off...

Pat and Ellie, thanks for making our meals awesome when we are in MI.

Per Facebook and website, The Local will be closing permanently on September 10, though their handmade sausages and pipeline to good drinks and produce will find other vehicles:

The Local wrote:LOCAL will be closing on Sunday September 10th

We have exciting news to share with you! As you may have heard, we will be opening Patellie’s, a pizzeria in Three Oaks, very soon and we are working on opening our specialty wine, beer and hard cider shop, P. & E.’s Bottle Shop shortly thereafter.

While this will represent a big change for everyone, it is by no means the end but rather a new beginning. No words are sufficient to thank you for your support, your friendship, your loyalty and the joy you helped bring to our lives for the past 6+ years. We hope the same spirit of love and community will continue for years to come in Three Oaks.

Gratefully, Pat & Ellie

I'm going to have to rearrange other plans to get there sooner. This has been a quarterly stop for my family and just one of those magical places you'd hope persisted in the world.

Made our last visit to Local last weekend... Very sad. Our last meal featured my favorite Local meat item. It is difficult for me to declare a favorite of all of the things I have enjoyed there. A few years ago I asked Ellie for her favorite thing in the case and she quickly said the thick cut lamb chops. Whenever I get them, she lights up and extolls their merit. Once again, after a simple Mediterranean marinade, and with some wonderful end of summer grilled vegetables, they did not disappoint.

We really wish Pat and Ellie the best of luck with their new ventures. From a personal and selfish perspective, I will dearly miss Local. What a special place the Mullins' created. We will see them in Three Oaks, but will frequent the pizza place, much less frequently than their sanctuary for home cooks. We truly hope someone with a similar sensibility will seise this opportunity.

Pat and Ellie, best wishes and good luck!