‘Always Been My Dream’: Katy The Butcher slices through male-dominated field, will open shop in Highland Park

After years of honing her craft behind the counter and dreaming of a space to call her own, Katy Wilhelmi is finally stepping into a role she’s long envisioned: shop owner. 

She’ll open the doors to her own butcher shop in Highland Park, Katy the Butcher, 1952 1st St. in Highland Park, this spring, a milestone not only for her career, but for a field where women are still carving out their place.

Wilhelmi, a Highland Park resident, is good with her hands. Not only does she cut meat, but she also plays the piano and makes dough. It’s a skill that runs in her family. Her grandfather owned his butcher shop, Joliet Meats, in the 1940s, and his seven brothers also knew the craft. 

Even though Wilhelmi didn’t know her grandfather, she still feels close to him after his death. 

“I definitely followed in his footsteps and I feel his ghost and spirit blessing me all the time,” she said.

Going back even further, Wilhelmi’s great-grandmother was also a butcher, so Wilhelmi wasn’t the first female butcher in her bloodline. 

Ironically, Wilhelmi grew up vegetarian and was always particular about the kind of food she eats. 

“Now, I only eat meat I’ve butchered or that I know who’s butchered it,” she said. 

From the far southwest suburb of Joliet to the Northwest (Seattle), Southwest (Arizona) and now Highland Park, Wihemi has been around. She’s been to nearly all 50 states, speaks three languages, carries a degree in mathematics and has three children. 

She is just 43 years old, and people tell her she’s “already lived 15 lives.”

Wilhelmi studied to become a sommelier in 2005, a period of her life when she became an expert in wine, liquor and beer to support in her butchering career. But unable to keep up with the profession, she went back to strictly butchering.

She was nine months pregnant in October 2009 when she committed to butchery. 

“I knew butchering was where my heart was and wanted to dedicate myself wholly to it,” she said, adding, “I was with my mom sitting in Dr. Hamdi Ahmad’s office at University of Arizona Food Product and Safety Laboratory, and I told her this is what I want to do for the rest of my life … But first – I had to have this baby.” 

Becoming a butcher

After her son, Arlo, was born, she studied at University of Arizona Food Product and Safety Laboratory, becoming the first woman to graduate from their meat-cutting program.

She learned everything “from field to finish,” including how to bring in animals, use ultrasound technology to determine marbling inside an animal and use oregano oil as a means of antimicrobial prevention. 

With three young kids at home, the program was a big sacrifice, but “a long commitment I was willing to go through,” she said. 

After graduation, Wilhelmi was the only woman working in the laboratory for two years. Then, she worked at a ranch just north of Tucson, Arizona, where she ran an abattoir for Double Check Ranch. There, she learned more about inspections and compliance. 

She lived in the Tucson area for eight years, raising her children on the ranch with no wifi, TV or digital devices of any kind. Instead, they tended to animals, foraged for food, cooked, studied and went hiking as a family. 

“It was not easy, but it was the best time of my life,” Wilhelmi said. “I supported my family by butchering.” 

Since then, Wilhelmi has worked in grocery stores, slaughterhouses, university laboratories and most recently, at Al’s Meat Market in Wilmette, where she helped owner Joe Spera from 2022 until this year, when the shop closed.

Clients at Al’s Meat Market have enjoyed seeing Wilhelmi work. 

“Seeing her work is like a breath of fresh air,” said Edmund Beberdick, who was a chef for more than 30 years. “She really puts her soul into working. She knows how to work and works the way I like to work: She doesn’t stop until it’s done.” 

When it comes to Wilhelmi running her own shop, Beberdick thinks Katy is “up for the job.” He is most looking forward to the dinners she will host. 

Proving herself

Butchery is a male-dominated field, and Wilhelmi had to prove herself. That started in school, as a 27-year-old. 

“When I first got to the university, they were like, pick these hairs off these achilles tendons, we’re going to turn these into dog treats,” she said. “And I thought to myself, I’m a mom with a 4-month-old at home paying for daycare to be here. I’m doing more than just picking hairs off these achilles tendons. I just had to be assertive and demand respect and next thing you know I was in the kill chute.” 

Then, while working as a butcher, she still had to continue to prove herself. 

“I had to prove my physical and mental strength, along with having the stomach to have to deal with the slaughter,” she said. “So, I can lift up 100 to 150 pounds no problem, and I had to build that up. I had prove to myself that I could be just as good as any man.” 

Wilhelmi looks up to woman butcher Kari Underly, who in addition to butchery, is an author and educator serving as CEO of Range Meat Academy in Chicago. 

Seeing the fruits of her labor, she applauds women butchers. 

“It’s a remarkable thing to be able to be a woman in this industry,” she said. “It takes guts, it takes grit and you have to be able to put up with a lot.” 

Behind all this training was Wilhelmi’s craving to build her own butcher shop one day. 

That dream is weeks away from reality. 

“Opening my own butcher shop has always been my dream and running in the back of my mind,” she said. 

Serving her community

Her shop, Katy the Butcher, will offer meat, eggs, cheese, fresh produce, beef tallow and dog treats and it will host cooking classes and dinner parties, helping it stand out from other butcher shops.

Wilhelmi currently hosts dinners once a month at American Legion in Evanston, 1030 Central St. The dinners support the military and veteran communities. She has a 22-year-old son who is an officer in the army and “making food for this community brings her closer to him.” 

Customers of Al’s Meat Market know Wilhelmi as a good cook, in addition to being a good butcher. 

“I have known Katy through eating her food and know she is a fabulous cook,” said Marlene Hines, who’s known Katy for several years. “If she does have cooking classes, someone would come out with a great learning experience from not only her cooking skills but butcher skills.” 

Meat from the shop will be sourced from wholesalers around Chicagoland, and Wilhelmi will get her full-hanging beef from a farm in Iowa.

Inside the shop, original parquet flooring connects a “colorful and unique” space housing historical butchery tools from Al’s Meat Market, like an 8-by-14-foot butcher block from the 1940s and a bandsaw and meat grinder from 1947. 

Wilhelmi will also feature products from her great-grandfather’s Chelino Cheese Company and baked bread from Lauren Noggle, owner of Loaves of Love.

“I want customers to experience something new every time they walk into the shop,” she said. “Whether it be enlightenment, good quality food or varying price points.” 

Highland Park seemed like the right fit for Wilhelmi. The space on First Street was right for her unique equipment and to serve customers. 

She is looking forward to feeding Highland Park with transparency and quality. 

“I am going to feed the community and teach the community,” she said. “I will do that with real ingredients, where I know where they came from, who grew them, who sourced them. I’m going to feed the community the way I know how to feed a community.

She added, “I am going to teach the community how to appreciate the food nature gives us, and be grateful for what we have both all the time and seasonally.” 

Keith Baumamm knows Wilhelmi and her commitment to quality from her days at Al’s. He is looking forward to Katy’s hanger steaks and believes in buying from the local butcher. 

“I only buy my meat at butcher shops,” he said. “Once you get organic, no-nonsense chicken, you’ll never go back, it’s the same with pork or beef products. It certainly costs more, but it’s absolutely worth it.” 

For her part, Wilhelmi is most excited about introducing clients to dry-aged beef. Her shop will have dry-aged cases, which will have a standing rib roast or a short loin. Customers can have their own aging units, selecting their steak cut before watching it age until they are ready for it. 

On opening day, Wilhemi is most eager to do what she loves in her own shop. 

“I can’t wait to work with my hands again in this creative space,” she said. “Make my own sausages, and eat the meat I’ve butchered because I know I can feel its soul and it’s so good.”

Rapid-fire questions 

What are three underrated cuts people should try? 

Katy Wilhelmi: Hanger steak, tenderized round steaks, round crosscut shanks. And I can think of more: bone-in chuck roasts (you get the bone and can render the fat off of it). 

What’s the biggest mistake people make when cooking meat at home? 

KW: They overcook it and don’t brown the meat properly. To brown meat well, you need to let the moisture and fat release, then allow it to reabsorb. Too much water in the meat causes it to steam instead of sear, which is why dry-aging helps; it removes excess moisture and concentrates flavorful juices. In general, too much moisture doesn’t make meat more tender.

What is your favorite meal to cook? 

KW: Soup. I love using beef tallow, homemade beef stock or chicken stock.

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