An Artist Whose Medium Is Meat

According to Niku Butcher Shop’s website, “Guy the Butcher,” AKA Guy Crims, is a legend in the world of Japanese Wagyu. In 2017, he was responsible for bringing 4.3 metric tons of the beef into the United States. As the shop’s lead butcher, he provides Niku Steakhouse, next door, with a steady supply of premium meat.

His interest in butchery started 41 years ago, when 14-year-old Crims read The Jungle, Upton Sinclair’s novel about the Chicago meat-packing industry, for a school project. His curiosity piqued, Crims landed his first job soon after, at the Adobe Butcher Shop in Pacifica. Five years later, in 1989, Crims was hired by the Pape Meat Company in Millbrae, where he worked for the next two-and-a-half decades, stepping away long enough to get a degree in architecture.

In 2015, he considered leaving the meat industry altogether. When a friend suggested they spend three weeks visiting the area around Mount Everest, Crims jumped at the chance. One of the trip’s stops was the Tengboche Monastery in Nepal, where Crims found inspiration.

“They have these huge prayer wheels which are six or eight feet high,” Crims said. “Because they’re across the entrance, you have to squeeze around them to get in and out, so you’re confronted with your spirituality no matter what you believe. And as I was passing through, I had this lightning bolt moment where I knew I was going to continue with the industry and I was going to do it at a level that I didn’t even know I was capable of.”

After he returned to the United States, Crims began to focus on Wagyu beef, which is created through a rigorous production process that originated in Japan in the early-1900s. Japanese feedlots are occupied by between ten and 100 cattle, creating an environment with much less stress than those inhabited by thousands of animals. In contrast, Harris Ranch, off Interstate 5 near Coalinga, contains 120,000 cattle on 800 acres. Japanese cows are fed a special high-energy diet for up to 700 days, far longer than domestic beef, which is only nourished for 120 days. The procedure makes the meat more flavorful and more expensive.

During a trip to Japan in 2019, Crims met with representatives of the Omakase Restaurant Group and was invited on the path that resulted in his current position.

Although the entire restaurant industry suffered when the pandemic hit in 2020, Crims and his team rolled with the restrictions, creating a take-out service featuring burgers and fries which continues as one of the Division Street butcher shop’s signature offerings.

“Guy the Hunter” now travels the world, visiting ranchers in a never-ending search for the best of the best, some of whom raise beef exclusively for Niku. Behind the counter, “Guy the Artist” trims his finds like a sculptor to create unique cuts, offering tips on how best to prepare purchases. 

^{Photo, top: Guy Crims prepares jars of caviar for the counter case at Niku Butcher Shop. Photo: Mark Steensland}