The lunch hour is winding down at Old Brea Chop but owner Tony Fasulo isn’t. He’s touching tables and greeting guests.
“Table 3 is celebrating,” he tells a server. “Send them dessert when their meal is done.”
Two patrons walk into the Downtown Brea restaurant and head to the bar. Fasulo greets them by name, reaching out with a firm handshake.
Tony Fasulo in the dinning room of his restaurant, Old Brea Chop House, in 2020.
(Raul Roa/Staff Photographer)
“This is the best restaurant in Orange County,” Jazz Moreno said.
She drove from Whittier with her husband, Marcus, for a late lunch.
“We have a place in San Clemente, and we know the beach area, but this is the best,” she said.
Hospitality is second nature to Fasulo. Beginning at the age of 16, he’s spent his working life in the restaurant business.
Later in his career, he worked for Mortons, opening steakhouses in Las Vegas, Palm Desert and other locations. He met his wife, Dani, at the upscale chain, and the two opened Old Brea Chop House in 2020 with head chef Masakazu “Masa” Ose.
Head Chef Masakazu “Masa” Ode, left, and owners Dani and Tony Fasulo stand in front of Chef Cut Meat House, which is slated to open in late August.
(James Carbone/James Carbone)
Opening a new venture during the pandemic proved tough.
“We had to pivot and evolve to figure out how to survive,” Fasulo said.
The restaurant sold high-quality meat for customers to grill at home and offered a revolving menu of sandwiches and specials.
“After the pandemic, this restaurant exploded because of those relationships I built,” Fasulo said.
The Fasulos are hoping to leverage that customer loyalty when their new butcher shop and speciality food concept, Chef Cut Meat House, opens later this month on Associated Road.
Chef Cut Meat House will serve Italian classic sandwiches, breakfast burritos and smash burgers.
(James Carbone/James Carbone)
Fasulo said the restaurant often receives special requests, such as beef Wellington or a whole carrot cake for a birthday party. Without advance notice, it’s difficult to honor such requests at the busy restaurant.
“I hate to say ‘no,’ I really do, but how can I do all these things?” Fasulo said. “That’s when I developed this concept of the butcher shop that would be an expansion and also an extension of what we give here. It’s a way to facilitate all of these requests.”
Chef Cut Meat will offer restaurant-quality meats, chef-driven prepared foods, gourmet pantry items and a curated wine selection designed to bring the steakhouse experience home.
During a tour of the new butcher shop space, Dani Fasulo unpacked bottles into the temperature-controlled wine cellar, while Ose trained staff on a menu that includes smash burgers and meatballs subs.
Chef Cut Meat House’s veal, pork and beef meatball sandwich smothered in classic marinara sauce.
(James Carbone/James Carbone)
Customers will be greeted with shelves of freshly baked bread, like focaccia made in-house, alongside coveted loaves from local bakers, including Bub and Grandma’s.
Behind the cases of cured meat and prime cut beef is a labyrinth of a kitchen, where staff will make make smoked brisket and roast beef for French dip sandwiches, as well as cheesecakes and other desserts.
The shop will offer grab-and-go prepared foods but also have a few tables and booths for dining in. The staff will pour glasses from the wine cellar, which also stocks retail bottles.
Fasulo envisions families like his own coming in with kids enjoying sandwiches, mom a glass of wine.
“Then, while she is sitting there, she sees the meat in the window and gets a couple steaks for the weekend, or maybe buys a bottle of the wine she is enjoying,” Fasulo said.
Chef Cut Meat House’s chef Masakazu “Masa” Ode, left, and owner Tony Fasulo pose for a picture in the wine vault.
(James Carbone/James Carbone)
Fasulo wants the hospitality to feel familiar.
“I have been doing this my whole life. It’s just what I do,” said Fasulo. “Chef Cut Meat House and Old Brea Chop House our kind of an homage to my life experiences.”
Chef Cut Butcher Shop is located at 415 S Associated Road in Brea and will open at the end of August. For the latest news on the opening date, visit thechefcut.com
