How Anthony Puharich of Victor Churchill Prepares for Service – Big or Small

Anthony Puharich is not your average butcher. A fifth-generation practitioner of his trade, he oversaw the dramatic transformation of his family business – Victor Churchill on Queen Street in Woollahra – into a luxury retail space in 2009. That’s an unexpected second life for the oldest continually run butcher shop in Australia (it opened in 1876).

The resulting space feels as much like an art gallery as it does a butchery, with mirrored cabinets, elaborate lighting and an innovative fit-out. “Victor Churchill is officially the most beautiful butcher shop in the world,” says Puharich, paraphrasing the late chef Anthony Bourdain’s personal assessment of the store. “I just wanted to show people it could be done differently, I wanted to test the limits of what a butcher shop could look and feel like. It’s about really celebrating the craft of butchery.”

That ethos will be reflected in Melbourne this spring, as Puharich brings Victor Churchill to the third level of the three-story LANDMARK by Lexus at the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

A tribute to his father, a veteran butcher, the elevated space was also intended to show the art of butchery in a new light at a time when the industry was struggling to get a younger generation on board. “I just wanted to show people that it could be done differently,” says Puharich. “I wanted to test the limits of what a butcher shop could look and feel like.”

But his ambitions haven’t stopped there. Supplying top-shelf Australian restaurants such as Movida, Quay and Sepia through Vic’s Premium Quality Meat, which he established with his father in 1996, in late 2021 Puharich opened Victor Churchill Melbourne in a heritage-listed former bank building in Armadale.

There he introduced an intimate upscale dining element to the Melbourne store, which features a 12-seat hospitality space that hosts two sittings at lunch and a bar after 4pm. It’s also open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday, adding extra tables once the butcher-shop side of the space has shut for the day.

“I love entertaining and I love cooking, so the idea of creating this beautiful, luxe space is all about sharing it,” he says. “People can come have a nice glass of wine, some oysters, a grilled piece of meat or some charcuterie. That was the motivation behind creating this space. It’s about true hospitality, and that’s something that drives me every day.”

It also makes for a busy day. Ahead of his preparation for the LANDMARK by Lexus event, we asked Puharich to talk us through his typical day.

4am
Puharich hauls himself out of bed and heads to Victor Churchill’s head office and production facility in Mascot, in Sydney’s inner south. It’s his “happy place”, says Puharich. “I check in with our head butcher, various team leaders, our logistics manager, our warehouse manager. I’m inspecting product and seeing what’s coming in every day.” Despite there being anywhere between 10 and 15 tonnes of meat arriving daily at the facility, Puharich like to remain hands-on.

7am
Puharich heads upstairs to tackle emails and prepare for team calls. He’ll spend much of the morning having meetings with his managers in both Sydney and Melbourne. “These meetings are very much about what happened the day before – a bit of a recap,” he says. “Then [focusing] on the day ahead.”

12pm
Even at lunch Puharich is immersed in work, sitting in on daily tastings of new products to provide a range of feedback – from quality to specs to packaging. Victor Churchill works with no more than a dozen key suppliers, but there’s still a huge range of variables in play.

“In order to put that amazing piece of meat on the plate, you’re dealing with a natural product,” he says. “It’s livestock. It relies on the elements: sunshine, rain, good grass. So there are a lot of things you need to control in terms of the consistency.”

2pm
Puharich has more afternoon meetings, but they’re often looking at more medium- to long-term business strategies, including finance and marketing. “This is when I’ll get any status updates on big projects across the business,” he says.

4pm
From 4pm to 6pm is Puharich’s “me” time of the work day. He sits at his desk working on whatever he chooses, but doesn’t take on meetings or other distractions.

6pm
Puharich usually leaves the office at around 6pm or 6.30pm. Once home, he’ll either go out to dinner or cook a meal at home with his wife, Rebecca Puharich, who is also heavily involved with the business, and their five-year-old daughter.

“Then I will spend time with my daughter,” he says. “I’ll either take her to the park or we’ll do some colouring in.”

Finally, before bed, he’ll read a book or listen to a podcast to get some quiet time. “My life fundamentally revolves around three things,” says Puharich. “My business, my family and my personal time, including what I do to recharge and recover.”

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Lexus. Look out for Victor Churhill at The LANDMARK by Lexus experience at the Melbourne Cup Carnival 2022..