If there’s one thing Anthony Puharich knows, it’s butchers. The owner of Sydney’s best butcher (yes! We called it!), Victor Churchill, has visited more purveyors of fine meat than just about anyone else we know – so we knew he was the right person to ask where to find the world’s best chops.

1. Antica Macelleria Cecchini, Chianti, Italy
Owner Dario Cecchini is a legend; a brother. His passion for butchery, meat and people is nothing short of inspirational.

2. Boucherie Le Bourdonnec, Paris, France
The butcher shop that single-handedly influenced and inspired me the most in respect to what I created at Victor Churchill. Currently owned by Yves-Marie le Bourdonnec, I first visited and fell in love with the store 10 years ago when it was called Boucherie Lamartine. I just plain love this place.

3. Allens of Mayfair, London, England
Smack-bang in the middle of one of the most expensive areas in London, this small but impressive butcher shop is awesome.

4. Any department store butcher shop in Tokyo, Japan
Ordinarily, the idea of shopping for fresh produce at a department store or supermarket would have me running swiftly in the direction of the closest providores. However, Japanese department stores are a different matter. In my opinion, no nationality or culture has a higher reverence or respect for ingredients or food than the Japanese. Their meat displays in particular are a work of art. The presentation, packaging and quality are simply incredible.

5. Florence Prime Meat Market, New York, USA
Quite possibly the smallest butcher shop I have ever visited – but what this butcher lacks in size, it makes up for in bucket loads of old school charm, character, history and tradition. If I lived in New York this would be my local butcher.