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Tom Mylan's Meat Hook is a departure from his former counter at Marlow & Daughters. “We’ll be a little less fancy, highfalutin: less pâté and cured meats, more sausage, roast beef, and pastrami. And our prices will be, on average, lower,” he says. Relations with his former employer are amiable, Mylan claims, though he did poach two Marlow colleagues — Brent Young and Ben Turley — to partner with him. Whether a neighborhood filled with freelancers and artists in the middle of a recession can sustain two artisanal meat shops is iffy, but Mylan has faith in his ability to draw customers from outside Williamsburg with ample parking, an easy-to-get-to spot off the BQE, and proximity to the L and G subway stops at Lorimer Street. There's plenty to shop for, like locally raised grass-fed beef from Kinderhook Farms and grain-fed meats from Meiller’s and Sons, as well as roast chickens, smoked chickens, handmade pastas and sauces, and aromatics like garlic, onion, and herbs. A dry-goods room stocks bulk olive oils, vinegars, spices, and Cayuga Pure Organic beans and grains from Tompkins County, New York. And in addition to Brooklyn Kitchen–style racks of kitchen tools, bakeware, and tableware framing the butcher cases, there's room for brewing and wine-making supplies, as well as a plan to sell Long Island grapes during wine-pressing season. — Alexandra Vallis

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