Meats, a one-of-a-kind butchery that sells only locally raised meats and specializes in house-made charcutiere.

“We’re not like any other meat counter in Seattle,” Flint said proudly. “For one, our meat is all bought from local farmers, nothing from big meat operations.

“Look at it,” he said, waving a hand toward the counter, “Everything looks red and pink –like meat is supposed to look.”

In the middle of the week, Melrose Market on Capitol Hill, is busy. Across the way, customers order soup and sandwiches from a restaurant and next door is a cheese shop with customers lined out the door. As people walk by the butchery, they all take a minute and look in the display case.

“This is a great location because people have to walk by my butcher counter to get to other shops,” Flint said. “We like to keep the display case looking full and fresh, customers need to know what they’re getting.”

Flint worked at Whole Foods and as a sous chef at Boat Street Café before opening Rain Shadow Meats. His time spent at the restaurant in particular helped when he opened the butchery, he said.

“I got to know the local farmers. When I decided to open Rain Shadow, I talked to the farmers about being suppliers,” Flint said. “The whole idea is to keep things completely local. Helping out the Washington farmer helps keep money local. And besides that, I like to steer people away from big industry meat suppliers and give an outlet for people to buy the best, freshest meat possible.”

Flint said the economy hasn’t had a big affect on business, yet.

“We haven’t been open that long, just

photo/Emily Jarrett

over a year, but business has been pretty steady,” he said. “Of course, those first few months were hard. I was working three months straight without a day off, but that’s what you do when you own your own business.”

Flint said he had hoped to own a restaurant by the time he was 35. At 32, he’s happy with his butchery.

“Owning a business, any business, it doesn’t quite always turn out exactly how you envision it,” he said. “Customers drive what we do and how we do it. But, things are going well and I hope that continues.”

Rain Shadow Meats is located at 1531 Melrose Ave, Suite C. Business hours are 10 a. m. to 7 p. m., daily. For more information, call 206-467-MEAT or go to www.rainshadowmeats.com