A short while ago I chatted with J.P. Neal about prime rib, butterballs and top grade imported meats available for home delivery. These are the folks that supply Monty's, Laris, Roosevelt, Bubba's, all of Eduardo Vargas' places and a number of high-end hotels around town. And, incidentally, could supply your next barbecue if you're interested. Check out the interview below.

City Weekend: What does P.R.I.M.E mean?

J.P. Neal: It’s an acronym. Prime Reliable Imported Meat Excellence.

CW: It’s also a grade of meat, right?

J.P.: Yeah, there’s actually “Prime” meat all over the world. It’s a U.S. way of ranking meat but it really just means “top quality.” It’s familiar and something people recognize. I thought we really had to get out there to foreigners. Top quality stuff is really expensive in restaurants and we provide it wholesale for home delivery.

CW: Home delivery? You just made our day. How did that start?

J.P.: Well, originally I started out on the F&B side, importing beers and other stuff for a while and I got to know people. So when I went into meats it was pretty easy to talk to chefs and develop a relationship. I’m always in places talking to chefs and I know a lot of people and once they knew what I was doing people started asking me where they could get quality meats. And suddenly it was like everyone was asking me. So, I started to look into the logistics of it.

CW: And now you’re “The Meat Guy.”

J.P.: Yeah, that sort of came out on its own. People just started saying, “Hey, you’re J.P. the Meat Guy!” and it caught on.

CW: And the business went from there?

J.P.: Well at first it was all just word of mouth really. When we started we'd just missed the barbecue season but we worked hard over Christmas and the holidays to get the word out. We sponsored some teams doing the chili cook-off over at Bubba's and some burger competitions and such. Then other people heard about it and it started to really kick in during the spring grilling season. Now we deliver to over 300 homes.

CW: So this only started a year ago?

J.P.: The parent company [Baode] has been around for three years but the home delivery only started up in the last year.

CW: Tell us, what makes a good piece of meat?

J.P.: Marbling. Marbling is where it' at. That's what gives it the flavor. There are different types -- fine, and rough. That's what makes Kobe beef so good. But your Chinese meats are all red, there's not much fat there.

CW: You guys also do seafood, right?

J.P.: Yeah, we do beef, veal, lamb, pork, poultry, seafood and fish, all imported. We also just got the exclusive rights to distribute Butterball [turkeys].

CW: Wow, that’s going to be huge come Thanksgiving season.

J.P.: Yeah, it’s going to go through the roof. We’ve brought in 1,100 and over 400 are already reserved. If they sell out by mid October we’ll order more for Christmas and New Years.

CW: So what’s your favorite cut on the menu?

J.P.: I’m sort of split to be honest. I’m big on our prime rib-eye, and then also the tenderloin. But I think I'd have to go with the tenderloin. Third choice would be the T-Bone.

CW: You really are a meat guy, aren’t you?

J.P.: Totally.