Photo by Ken Odor
Jonathan Nadolski with some of his wares at Nadolski’s Butcher Shop in The Village Shopping Center.

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It’s sort of an accident that one of Goochland’s newest businesses opened right in the middle of a recession.

Husband and wife owners Jonathan and Alissa Nadolski had been planning to open Nadolski’s Butcher Shop in Goochland Courthouse for months, before the bad economic news hit.

They didn’t let the economic downturn stand in their way.

“Regardless of the economy, people have to eat,” said Jonathan.

Alissa recalled their mood when Jonathan was forced to think last year about a change in career.

“Let’s really have our dream,” was their decision after mulling over their options.

When La Petite France, where Jonathan had worked as chef for five years, announced it would close last year, the couple had thought about buying the restaurant.

But instead they went with their dream and decided to open a butcher shop in Goochland, where they have lived with their twin daughters for the last three years.

They liked the slower pace in Goochland and thought their business would fit right in with the Farmers’ Market, Javajodi’s (just across the street) and other new businesses in the courthouse area.

“We wanted to have a family life and work close to home,” explained Alissa in an interview last week at the shop.

And Jonathan looked forward to working fewer nights running his own business.

In the food business since 1991, Jonathan talks about going back to the “old way,” when people spent more time preparing food.

“People watch the food channel on TV and get excited about food,” explained Alissa.

They liked the village atmosphere on the weekends, with people walking around from the Farmer’s Market to the bakery. They feel their shop fits right in to that atmosphere.

Jonathan may be working fewer nights, but for right now it’s seven days a week at the shop.

“But it’s a lot of fun,” he said.

“I’m more the butcher’s wife,” said Alissa, who works a marketing job for a software company during the week.

She plans to concentrate on the business and marketing side of the new venture and leave the meat cutting to her husband.

The shop is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Offering a variety o meat and seafood, Nadolski’s specializes in customer service said the owners. The philosophy is high quality in small quantities with frequent deliveries from suppliers.

Beef, chicken, pork, pheasant, duck, Foie Gras – there’s variety here.

In seafood its lobster, scallops, tuna, oysters and more. Fresh seasonal seafood is the order of the day.

Some special deals are offered for the shop customers, like ‘Meat for the Week,” a selection of steak, chicken, pork and sausage at a reasonable price geared to hold you for a week.

Jonathan makes his own sausage daily, an idea that wasn’t part of the original plan, he said, but one that has become popular with customers.

And despite the gloomy reports on the economy, the first month at Nadolski’s has gone well. They opened at the end of January.

“The numbers are better than we anticipated,” they said.

Naldolski’s is located at 2913 River Road West in the Courthouse Village Shopping center.

Like almost all new businesses, you can learn about them on their own Web site at http://www.nadolskisbutchershop.com.