Ottman & Company: Meatpacking District Pioneers

IN THIS ALL-NEW 2022 EDITION, Jacquelyn Ottman, fifth generation Ottman family member unpacks the Meatpacking District and its most storied meat purveyor, Ottman & Company.

"The history of a family, an industry, a neighborhood and NYC all in one!"

Although today's Meatpacking District is known for the Highline, trendy restaurants and avant-garde art, it had been New York's meatpacking hub for over a century. At its height, the neighborhood was home to 150-250 meat businesses that helped put America's finest meat on the tables of New York's restaurants - from small mom & pop eateries to America's top steakhouses like Delmonico's and Peter Luger.

One of these businesses was Ottman & Company, a meat purveyor dubbed the "Tiffany of the Meat Business." With roots to NYC's Fulton Market in 1850, it would distinguish itself with an A-list customer clientele, and, a century later, for pioneering technologies for processing, packaging and distributing meat that are still used in restaurant and home kitchens today.

In this part history and part memoir, Native New Yorker and fifth generation family member, Jacquelyn Ottman unpacks the rich history of her family's legacy against a 400-year backdrop of the Meatpacking District, including:

• A history of New York's Meatpacking District, including its roots within early public markets like the Fulton Market (South Street Seaport) and the Washington Market (World Trade Center/Tribeca), and its evolution over the centuries, from its time as a Lenape trading post to its current destination for world-class fashion, art and architecture;

• An introduction to the historical architectural styles that distinguish the Meatpacking District from other NYC neighborhoods and prompted the unprecedented landmarking of the Meatpacking District as a site for historic preservation; with a deep dive into the stunning six-story Arts & Crafts building built by Wm. Vincent Astor in which Ottman & Company worked its magic.

• The inner workings of the Meatpacking District: including from where it sourced its meat, the historic role of refrigeration in helping to keep meat fresh, and how meat was transported into and out of the area, including the importance to the District of the now-famous "High Line", long before it became an elevated park;

• The inside story of the Ottman family's meat-purveying business, which started in the Fulton Market of 1850s delivering fresh meat in horse-drawn carriages to the private families of the Gilded Age, and its migration to the Meatpacking District in 1918, from which it served America's finest hotels, and restaurants including Le Pavillon, 21, the Four Seasons, Luchow's, and eventually customers around the world;

• How Ottman & Company, working in conjunction with DuPont, WR Grace, Clarence Birdseye, and others, pioneered technological advancements such as vacuum packaging and flash freezing, transforming how meat is prepared in restaurant kitchens and forever changing the way consumers buy meat in supermarkets.

This book is richly illustrated with rare historical photos from the author's family's private collection, as well as untold stories handed down from previous generations of family members who worked in the Fulton Market and the West Washington Market since 1850.

Author Jacquie Ottman worked at her family's business during the 1970's and dined at the firm's customer's restaurants since childhood. An award-winning author including two personal culinary histories, Ottman seamlessly weaves historical facts, technical details, and amusing anecdotes, all the while conveying her passion for her family's legacy and her desire to keep the memory of the meatpackers of the Meatpacking District alive for future generations.

Videos of highlights of this book can be found on YouTube.com