The much-anticipated butcher shop Hillcrest Artisan Meats (H.A.M.) has opened at 2807 Kavanaugh, near Kroger and adjacent to the U.S. Post Office.

As we reported several months back, H.A.M. is the brainchild of former Boulevard chef Brandon Brown, who moved to Little Rock with his family about a year ago from Eugene, Ore., where he was charcuterie chef at King Estate Winery for four years.

H.A.M. is a full-service butcher shop and charcuterie, where Brown butchers, cures and makes everything on-site. Currently, Brown said that includes five fresh sausages, duck confit, duck hams and all sorts of cuts of beef and pork. His inventory, of dry goods and meat, is at about 70% of where it will be, he said.


“We’re definitely taking requests,” Brown said. “We’re hoping that the people will dictate our selection.”

H.A.M. is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday. Daily, it’s offering a soup of the day and three to five sandwich options — usually a mixture of grab-and-go and hot options.


The official grand opening is scheduled for Saturday, when Brown said he’ll be offering cider and sausage samples.

The phone number is 671-6328.