Mortimer’s Craft Butchery Set to Open in Blowing Rock Early July Amid Community Excitement
June 13, 2025 AJ Nowell has worked “in meat” for 20 years. And for nearly 15 of those 20 years he has dreamed of owning his own butcher shop. And in early July, AJ, and his wife and business partner, Ashley, will realize their dream, when Mortimer’s Craft Butchery opens in the former Papa Joe’s pizza restaurant on Valley Blvd, in Blowing Rock. AJ began his journey in the field working as what is known in the industry as a “meat cutter”, which most consumers might recognize as those folks one sometimes gets a peak of through the glass windows of many grocery store meat departments. These meat cutters typically work with what are already somewhat processed cuts of meat. By Lorry Mulhern