Family run Whitby, Ont. butcher shop caters to community with full buying experience

In the east end of Whitby, Ont., you’ll find a little butcher shop that offers much more than your favourite meats.

At Off The Cleaver, it’s about the full buying experience.

Off The Cleaver is a speciality food shop owned and operated by brothers Todd and Craig Leslie that offers everything from fresh, in-house cheese to top-quality meats. And at this shop, they make it their business to treat their customers like family.

“Todd will actually call me and say, ‘Hey, you know I got wild boar sausage this week and I know you want some. I’m putting some aside for you, come on in and get them,'” faithful customer Tom Phillips said. “You don’t get that anymore, you know? That’s the bottom line.”

The Leslie family has been in the food industry since the 70s and Todd said since then, they have continued to live by the motto, “Nothing comes out of this store that we don’t treat like it’s going on our own plate!”

The business has become a labour of love for the entire Leslie clan, including the family’s 92-year-old grandmother who pitches in to help clean the meat displays.

Off The Cleaver’s master chef Josh Heuvelmans said the shop’s first priority is the customer.

“We try to have all our meats as tender as possible in the best possible shape for the customers so that they never have anything to complain.”

For Todd Leslie, he said the secret to his business is simply community.