Welcome to The Meat Room!
We are small-batch Salami Specialists using delicious free-range pork sourced from locally grown pigs.
TMR Owner James Mele, is passionate about meat and loves to travel to meet farmers, producers and fellow foodies.
James is fanatical about traditional Italian food. Many an hour has been spent with his extended family learning the art of salami and sausage making and mastering passata, pizza and winemaking.
James’s passion and dedication to his craft has seen our Fennel Salami and Zingara Salami awarded Silver Medals at the Australian Food Awards 2019. Our Mild, Mild Pistachio, Prosecco, Fennel and Calabrese Salamis each won GOLD at the AMIC Australian Charcuterie Excellence Awards in 2023, with our Fennel Salami also winning the Overall Category Champion.
James constantly seeks to master and build on his skills, whilst also striving to innovate. He frequently travels both locally and internationally to Italian food festivals to uncover new ways of preserving, preparing and cooking.
James is passionate about sharing his knowledge. Throughout the year The Meat Room presents a number of classes so that you and your friends can learn and master skills in Italian traditions. Join one of our classes to learn everything you ever wanted to know about sausage making or butchering. Our classes are limited to 10-12 participants and are ideal for group bookings or work team-building events. Check out our classes section to see upcoming class dates, and make sure to book early as our classes do sell out quickly when we release new dates.
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For those of you who would prefer to make sausages or salami at home, We can supply delicious free-range pork for you to use, as The Meat Room has access to many breeds of pork, and the best pigs for salami-making, locally grown in Victoria. We also have a range of sausage and salami-making equipment available for purchase. To place orders for pork or equipment, please contact us for an order form.
For the foodies amongst you, you’ll be pleased to hear that Providore, our new one-stop-shop for all your gourmet needs is now open on-site at The Meat Room in Kilmore East.
We look forward to meeting you, whether it is at Providore, or during one of the events or Farmers Markets that we attend. In the meantime please subscribe to our mailing list to keep in the loop with upcoming events, class dates and TMR updates. You’ll also find us on Facebook so don’t forget to like us!
Providore
The one-stop-shop for all your gourmet needs.
26 O’Gradys Road, Kilmore East, Victoria
(Enter via Marions Lane)
Opening Hours
Thursday 9am-5pm
Friday 9am-5pm
Saturday 9am-1pm
We stock pork, beef, lamb, local wines, olive oil, olives, cheese, pasta, eggs, and much more.
Sourdough Loaves
We bake our Sourdough loaves on-site at TMR each day Providore is open.
Try one, and we know you’ll be back for more!
Our Salamis
Browse our range of delicious salamis.
Award Winning Salami
AMIC Australian Charcuterie Excellence Awards 2023 Gold Winners
5 GOLD Awards for TMR Salami
We entered 5 of our salamis in the Traditional Salami (fermented) category in the 2023 AMIC Australian Charcuterie Excellence Awards, and we were awarded 5 GOLD Awards!
Mild
Mild Pistachio
Prosecco
Fennel
Calabrese
Our Fennel Salami also won the Overall Category Champion!
The Australian Charcuterie Excellence Awards (ACEA) are the premier awards for the Australian
smallgoods sector, recognising products of quality and excellence, while promoting industry
recognition and standards. The awards are delivered by the Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC)
in partnership with Australian Pork Limited, Cold Xpress, and William Angliss Institute.
Free Range Meat
Small Batch Salami Sales
Looking to get your hands on some of our tasty salami? Good news! You can now purchase directly from us at our on-site store Providore in Kilmore East.
Providore is open Friday 9am-5pm, and Saturday 9am-1pm.
Should you have any queries, please give us a call on 0419 242 815, or send us a message via our contact us page.
Alternatively, track us down at one of the weekend Farmer’s Markets where we have our small-batch salami available for purchase. Explore the Farmers’ Markets we attend to find a market near you!
Our salami is also available at selected specialist outlets, along with some of Victoria’s finest restaurants, distilleries and wineries.
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Stockists
You can find our salami at the following speciality stores.
Pastificio Sandro
822 High St, Thornbury
Restaurants, Distilleries & Wineries
Why not treat yourself to our salami at the following restaurants, distilleries & wineries.
Animus Distillery
1/89A Piper St, Kyneton
Balgownie Estate Yarra Valley
1309 Melba Highway, Yarra Glen
Baracca Lane
52 Station St, Seymour
Best’s Wines, Great Western
111 Bests Road, Great Western
Bistro Sousou
153 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy
Box Grove Vinyard
955 Avenel-Nagambie Road, Avenel
B Y RDI Bar
211 La Trobe Street, Melbourne
Dal Zotto Wines
4861 Wangaratta-Whitfield Rd, Whitfield
Darraweit Valley Cider House
39 Darraweit Valley Rd, Darraweit Guim
Eighteen Sixty
312B High St, Nagambie
Lyons Will Estate
60 Whalans Track, Lancefield
Napier Quarter
359 Napier St, Fitzroy
Mount Monument
1399 Romsey Rd, Romsey
Mount Towrong Vinyard
4 Taylors Rd, Mount Macedon
Sedona Estate Winery
182 Shannons Rd, Murrindindi
Tabilk
254 Oneils Road, Nagambie
Cafe Umberto
917 High Street Thornbury
Cafe Verdure
106a Main Street, Romsey
Wine By Sam
69 Anzac Ave, Seymour
Learn traditional cooking . enjoy a new experience
Join one of our classes
The Meat Room has been running classes since 2015.
We regularly add new classes throughout the year, so if you are interested in attending sausage-making classes please do check out our upcoming class dates.
Our courses are designed for small groups and include a lunch feast of pizza cooked in the wood-fired oven, served with beer/wine.
With Kilmore East based just over an hour from Melbourne, our classes provide the perfect opportunity for a group of friends to get together to enjoy learning the art and skill of traditional Italian sausage-making, or equally, a perfect team-building opportunity for corporate groups.
Check out our Learn From Us page to see an up to date list of classes. We would love for you to come and learn from us!
We can also offer private function or classes, if required, please contact us to make arrangements.
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Testimonials
What People are Saying about our classes
“A Great Find”
“What an amazing experience! Fantastic products and delicious food. Definitely signing up for more classes.”
– Stacey T.
“We all had a blast“
“What a day at the Meat Room today making Italian salami & sausages with hosts James & Kathy and helper Frank. We all had a blast learning about the produce, techniques and actually doing it ourselves.
On arrival, we were greeted with coffee, Italian biscuits and samples of what we will be making. Then we enjoyed an antipasto for smoko then a pork roast cooked in the wood-fired pizza oven for lunch. We then sampled fresh produce from the garden and encouraged to take what we wanted.
The hosts are awesome, the food was out of this world and the experience will last a lifetime. I also met some great people on the course, Mariska, Dan, Ian, Matt, & Frank. My advice is
– Michael H.
“They say you learn something new everyday . ”
“We learnt enough in this one day to take the rest of the month off. So grateful to James, Frank and Kath for sharing their knowledge and passion with us.
Demystifying sausage making and debunking so much misinformation we had received has given us so much relief and confidence. Can’t wait to apply the lessons learnt at The Meat Room at home, quality fresh ingredients made the way you like them with Fun and Love.
– Danielle and Jim
“The sausage making class is fantastic! ”
“Kath and James have perfected their program and their knowledge is exceptional. There was not a question they couldn’t answer. It was great to see such variety in participants, from people like myself who had never made sausages, to those who were far more experienced looking to further their knowledge.
It was an extremely enjoyable and welcoming environment with a delicious lunch! The meat room is incredibly picturesque in Autumn and I highly recommend having a look around
Could not recommend the class highly enough! Thank you
– Ingrid C.
Don’t Miss out on your Small Batch Salamis
Find us at Farmers’ Markets!
Looking to get your hands on some of our yummy produce?
Visit us at one of our market stalls we attend around the region with our small-batch Salami.
About James Mele
As a child, James would work at his father’s butcher shop on Saturday mornings. As a family business, his parents and their families were deeply involved in the meat industry in Australia and Italy and were experienced in wholesale and retail trade.
From a young age, James was not only exposed but immersed in the butchering industry. He spent holidays with his father and uncles going to the Newmarket Saleyards and vividly remembers being mesmerised by the sights of the livestock being drafted and penned, and watching the auctioneer selling off the pens of cattle.
He was involved and grew his skills in the art of traditional Italian sausage making. Take a stroll through his kitchen garden when you visit James at The Meat Room and you’ll see his roots – James has spent many years growing the herbs of his childhood, and the key ingredients in traditional Italian cooking, such as rosemary, basil, garlic, parsley and chilli.
Living in Kilmore East, James has had the opportunity to work with many producers of pork, lamb and beef throughout regional Victoria. Exposed to their passion for produce but also their frustrations of finding a butcher who would work with them on presentation and packaging, James saw the potential for setting up a Primesafe approved facility to help small farmers process their produce. In 2012 James built a facility to fulfil the needs of producers and quickly starting working with them to develop presentation and packaging options.
From here, The Meat Room has grown in leaps and bounds. With James expanding the scope of the business to encompass classes, and now, the production of small-batch artisan salami using the only the best free-range pork.
Find us on Social Media
Providore
The one-stop-shop for all your gourmet needs.
26 O’Gradys Road, Kilmore East, Victoria, Australia, 3764
Opening Hours
Thursday 9 am - 5 pm
Friday 9 am - 5 pm
Saturday 9 am - 1 pm
Drop us a line
Let us know if you have any questions!
Email: info@themeatroom.com.au
or use our contact form:
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