About Michael Puglisi

Electric City Butcher

If there are two things Michael Puglisi knows, it’s craftsman butchery and how to be a nomad.

The New York native’s career started in upstate New York, working on the prep line of a little French bistro. There, Puglisi started exploring his growing interest in meat and butchery. He would dig through old books and pick the brains of veteran cooks, wanting to understand how they prepared their meats. With that curiosity began a journey that would take Puglisi from line cook at a local restaurant to head butcher, and ultimately Executive Sous Chef, at one of the country’s premier restaurants in a matter of three short years.

With his new interest in meat, Puglisi took a position with Barbara Lynch’s The Butcher Shop in Boston. He went on to butcher at Fountaine Bleu Hotel and Resort Miami Beach for their nine restaurants. Ultimately, Puglisi efforts brought him to Thomas Keller’s Bouchon, Los Angeles. There, Puglisi climbed the ranks once again and departed as Executive Sous in 2013 to begin building his vision of a neighborhood whole animal butcher shop, Electric City Butcher.

Ask Puglisi when the idea of Electric City Butcher began, and he’ll mention a five-week stint in Sicily, exploring the macellerias, restaurants, and local farms of the island villages from which his ancestors. There he learned that butchery is as much about relationships, as it is about skill.

That’s why Puglisi’s pride in Electric City Butcher lies not just in his refined and beloved craft, but also in the butchery’s respect for each individual animal and the farmers who raise them. Electric City Butcher, launched in February of 2015, is the only whole animal butcher shop in Orange County, providing responsibly sourced meats from family-owned farmers and ranchers across California. Puglisi ensures that the handcrafted charcuterie, sausages, and cut-to-order meats are of unparalleled quality.