EDWARDS, Colorado — David and Mary Davies go out of their way to get quality meat.

Because they have trouble finding grass-fed, organic cuts in the Vail Valley, the Edwards couple shops online.

“Right now we order all of our meats and fish online and have it shipped but sometimes shipping into Vail isn’t the most reliable,” Mary said.

The couple tried to find a thick cut, line-caught salmon filet for a dinner party last week but had to settle for a thinner version from the supermarket. Once they even tried to convince a local sushi restaurant to sell them a large piece of tuna (they failed).

With the arrival of a new butcher shop and seafood market in Edwards, the couple won’t have to coax sushi chefs into handing over their fish.

“Cut: Artisan Meats and Seafood” opens today. It’s the only butcher shop in Eagle County devoted exclusively to meat and seafood.

Eat!Drink! owners Pollyanna Forster and Chris Irving teamed up with Kevin Delonay to launch the store, which is next door to Eat!Drink! at 56 Edwards Village Boulevard.

Meat with a story

Expect no mystery meat at Cut.

“Almost anything meat oriented, whether it’s beef, lamb, veal, chicken, we are getting from Colorado,” Forster said. “I would say 90 to 95 percent. In fact we are working with someone as local as Edwards that has a ranch here.”

Owners have toured the farms where the meat comes from, and have adopted the slogan “Protein For the Soul.”

That tagline is something Delonay, 28, takes seriously. He’s the general manager at Cut and a former sous chef at Dish restaurant in Edwards, which Forster co-owns.

“I can tell you where everything is from: where it was grown, how it was raised, what it ate,” he said.

With regard to seafood, Cut focuses on line-caught, “day boat” fish, meaning the fish remained on the boat for no more than a day, Forster said. She has a personal connection with her fish sources.

For instance, Forster will buy Kona Kampachi from a fisherman in Hawaii that she knows from high school, and sourced lobsters from a farmer in Maine whom she met through a customer at Eat!Drink!

Prices at Cut will range from 99-cent stocks to $22 to $24 per pound for foie gras, oysters on the halfshell or Porterhouse steaks. The shop also sells prepared meals like Kobe beef burgers and roasted chicken.

With lime green paint and white and green tiles, the shop has an urban look. Soon it will contain a large lobster tank and pictures of the farms where the meats come from. The shop stands in a space once home to furniture store Foreign Accents, which vacated the slot last fall.

Several people who attended the Cut’s soft opening on Monday night said they were excited about a butcher shop in Edwards.

Part-time Beaver Creek resident Hope Oquin, 56, said she and her friends look forward to shopping for high-end goods.

“We haven’t really been able to find high-quality meats or seafood out here,” she said. “I hate to say it, but it’s really not available. Everyone’s grilling all the time so it will be great to be able to grab a great piece of meat or great seafood.”

Edwards residents Carolyn Samelson and Cindy Duncan said they look forward to recipes and marinades that will come with the meats. The women said those pairings mean they can buy everything they need for a quick dinner.

“If you don’t get a lot of planning done ahead of time, you’re still in good shape,” Samelson said. “It’s a time saver. Stress saver.”

For David Davies, 60, the “stress saver” will be knowing where the meat comes from.

“When you read about the path that meat follows to get to the supermarket shelf, it’s a little scary,” he said. “And here, they’re going to sell hormone-free, organic (meat).”

High Life Writer Sarah Mausolf can be reached at 970-748-2938 or smausolf@vaildaily.com.

If you go ... What: Cut: Artisan Meats and Seafood Where: 56 Edwards Village Blvd., the corner at Edwards, unit 105, next to Eat!Drink! When: Opens today. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days per week More information: Call 970-926-3007