By Robert King -- Daily Staff Writer

WINCHESTER — A new Winchester butcher shop uses an old-fashioned method to make beef more delicious.

The Butcher's Choice opened in April at the Creekside shopping center at 3701 Valley Ave. The butcher shop and deli is located next to The Little Gym in the shopping center.

Jeff Dienst, who co-owns the restaurant with his wife, Tina, has been working with meat for roughly 18 years. The former building contractor takes a different approach to the preparation of his beef.

Unlike grocery stores, Dienst ages his beef a minimum of two weeks.

The beef is stored in a cold room at 34 degrees. "The cold air is dry, and it pulls the moisture out," Dienst said.

The process helps to evaporate the natural juices within the beef, creating a greater concentration of beefy flavor and taste.

"What that gives you is outstanding flavor and tenderness, as well," Dienst said. "You enjoy every bite."

During the aging process "a crust forms on the outside of the loin, very similar to the texture of beef jerky," according to a pamphlet on the process.

The layer is trimmed away, leaving steaks that are "superior in tenderness and flavor," the pamphlet reads.

The process isn't new, but hasn't been regularly used since the early 1960s.

At that time, processors started putting beef in vacuum-sealed bags. This process retained the moisture at the cost of taste, Dienst said.

"The advantage of this process was that they could 'wet age' the beef in the bag and not lose any of the weight of the beef," the pamphlet reads. "Wet aging was much more cost effective for the processors, so a weaning of the consumers' taste buds began to occur."

Dienst hopes to re-educate people on the aging process.

"Some of your older people haven't seen it for a long time, and they are glad someone is offering it," he said. "Younger people, you tell them aged meat and all they think of is it is old. They don't understand there is a process beef has to go through so you have a good steak and good roast or good ground beef."

The shop mainly offers choice grade beef, and other meat products such as pork, ham and poultry.

The Butcher's Choice also offers quality service, Dienst said. Customers can call in their orders, and Dienst is willing to help the customers however he can.

"It is pretty much up to [the customer's] imagination what they want," he said. "I've had women come in with their cookbooks and show me what it is they want. I had one old lady come in with their pot [asking] what kind of roast she can fit into it."

Quality service and a quality product is one way Dienst hopes to get customers who are used to going to the grocery store for their meat.

"If you are going to spend 40, 50, 60 bucks at the [grocery] store for meat, you might as well come here and get a good quality," he said.

The shop offers more than just meat. Mrs. Dienst cooks up an assortment of homemade meals such as meat loaf, baked beans, and other dishes.

The shop offers a lunch and dinner menu with sandwiches of pulled pork, barbecue ham, roast beef, turkey, different salads and other dishes such as barbecue ribs.

The homemade taste is important to the dishes, said Mrs. Dienst

"People don't normally cook like that anymore," she said.

The shop has also done some catering for events such as the recent Stephens City Newtown Heritage Festival and the grand opening for a new Lowe's hardware store.

Dienst said he is confident that while the process hasn't been used for a while, dry-aged beef will grow on his customers.

"I love having people come back and call and say that was the best steak or roast," he said.

The Butcher's Choice is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturdays and closed on Sundays. The shop can be reached at 722-9606.