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Weber and Pera (top left) started Revival initially as a butcher and charcuterie shop – during development the idea expanded to include produce, coffee and many artisan goods. (Photo by Rich Vana)
Revival Market is no ordinary market. After opening its doors in March of 2011 in The Heights, Revival restored an aspect of grocery shopping that is, in the eyes of many, in need of a bit of reviving – they provide pork from one source (Revival Farms in Yoakum) and chicken, beef, and lamb also sourced from local farms and ranches that operate with the highest standards and principles regarding sustainable, ethical practices. On top of that, the butchery, charcuterie, cooking, curing and selling all done under one roof. While this concept may be a throwback, the genesis of its origin is not – two people with a common belief and a common need, coming together to provide a service people desire.
Mogan Weber is a farmer from Yoakum, Texas. He believes in raising his livestock thoughtfully, ethically, and humanely. His problem came in the form of delivering these animals to his customers. Disassembling an animal by professional, certified hands and delivering that processed product is no simple task, but to do this one particular animal at a time is a different thing entirely. Especially for a small farmer.
“We found it very difficult to locate one person who could do everything we wanted,” says Morgan Weber. “We could find someone who could do minimal processing – I could deliver a half a pig to restaurants so they could do what they want – but I couldn’t sell that same pork at the farmers market because it hadn’t been processed into a cut that a home cook can use. So we started processing at a different place, and then it kind of became a crapshoot as to what we were going to get from these other folks regarding how it was going to be cut, even when we gave them specific instructions. So we kept looking and found a place outside of Austin, but it was a four hour drive from our farm in Yoakum, and a five-hour drive from Houston. In any given week I was driving from Houston to Yoakum to Austin to Johnson City, back to Austin, to Brookshire, back to Yoakum – I put nearly 60,000 miles on my car in one year. It was ridiculous.”
So Weber found a new solution.
He had been working with Ryan Pera, then the chef at Grove in Downtown Houston, selling him the pork that he had been traveling throughout Texas to produce. It just so happened that Pera found that he was in a position to make a change, too. The result of their need for change led to discussions, and those discussions turned into a market and restaurant unique to any other – one that provided produce and meats from nearby farms, artisanal jams, jellies, breads, cookies, milks and yogurts, and responsibly sourced, carefully crafted coffee. And sandwiches and meals that no mega mart could ever dream of.
Weber and Pera started Revival Market. And they haven’t looked back since.
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The cured meats counter at Revival provides myriad options, from sausage s to coppas to duck prosciutto and much more. (Photo by Rich Vana)
Gone are the days of Weber driving 60,ooo miles annually, and suddenly processing has become a pleasure rather than a problem – bright, fresh cuts of meat rest under the display windows while sausages, bellies, coppas and more hang in the charcuterie chamber – with a window that gives everyone a chance to see what’s curing. To say it’s been a solution for Weber and Pera would be an understatement; it’s turned into far more than even they initially envisioned.
“The concept started as a butcher shop/charcuterie shop, and as we looked into the business it made more sense to expand it a little bit and to produce sandwiches and dry goods,” Pera says. “I have always enjoyed cooking from scratch, so here we do all our pickles, jams, jellies in house, utilizing what’s available seasonally.”
It may seem – in fact, the name even implies it – that the two have created a market that harkens back to what a customer may have found 70 years ago, but while some aspects of that type of shop are retained, Pera and Weber are making the most of modern amenities while retaining the otherwise fading aspects of more traditional, local markets.
“I think we utilize some modern aspects, but yes, we wanted to have the service of an old market: smiles, knowing our customers’ names, knowing what they’re looking for,” says Pera. “And being able to talk about the meat – having employees who really care about where things are coming from as well and know the difference between a tri tip and a ribeye.”
As for the meat, it’s from Revival Farms, which is ‘thoroughly committed to raising our animals in a sustainable manner, using humane and ecologically sound methods,’ and the practice of processing in-house provides Weber and Pera the opportunity to promote cuts that aren’t the standard rib eyes, tenderloins, strips and t-bones.
“We are obsessed as a society with ribeyes, strips, and tenderloins – and rightfully so, they’re delicious. But when a shop brings in an 800-pound cow for whole animal butchery, 15 percent of that cow is going to be those cuts. The other 85 percent is something else,” Weber observes. And that’s not a bad thing – maybe someone doesn’t want to spend the money for a ribeye; what are their alternatives? Well, the beef collar, which is the same muscle as the rib loin, just further up on the neck -treat it just like a steak, and it’s half the price of a ribeye. People are learning to love the off cuts.”
And with the philosophy behind the meat follows that of the produce, the dry goods, and to every extent possible, the coffee program, which is overseen by David Bueher of Greenway Coffee and Tea – a staunch advocate of sustainable, ethical, and local practices. And while Houston doesn’t have many coffee plantations immediately outside its borders, Bueher at least makes sure he gets as close to the source as he can every year, visiting the sites from which he’s sourcing – no matter which ocean he’s got to cross to do it.
“He was one of the first that really started paying attention to the details of coffee making and roasting in Houston, and he’s been amazing for us,” says Weber about Bueher. “He takes care of all of our roasting, but he also goes down to these plantations in South America or Africa, meets with the growers and tastes the coffee there; he develops personal relationships with everybody he buys beans from.”
And while the coffee is a big draw – Pera’s chance to shine is with the food: jellies, jams, charcuterie are all among his passions, but the dinners, breakfasts and sandwiches can create lines out the door. From elaborate, multi-course dinners one night to a simple kolache Saturday breakfast the next day, and maybe a fried chicken dinner that next night, Pera and his staff (Sous Chef Adam Dorris is taking the reins at several aspects, including the dinners) are limited only by what the market has in store and what their imaginations are limited to.
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The slow-roasted Berkshire pork belly sandwich is one of many unique lunch options to be had at Revival. (Photo by Rich Vana)
“One of the things that I really love is that it’s hard to put us in a box,” Pera says. “We can truly do whatever we want to do, and sometimes it’s a little daunting, because we do need to focus.”
It’s focus though, that brought Revival Market into being – a focus on quality, ethics and sustainability, and that continued focus has helped it develop into what it is. Every aspect is inspected, every product analyzed – some of it may be sourced outside of Houston, or even Texas, but its creation was of utmost consideration before entering the doors of Revival. So daunting as the scope may be for Pera when it comes to creation of his own dishes and products, he rests assured that whatever it is he’s construction is made with ingredients that for all intents and purposes are the most superior and quality that can be found.
“We know exactly what’s in there, what went into each and every piece,” he says.
And no one has to travel 60,000 miles to get it.
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