Our Team

Koji Fujioka – Butchery Manager

As a Butchery Manager, Koji helps the operation running smoothly by overseeing our purchasing and the many administrative tasks required to keep the operation running smoothly. In addition, he teaches new team members about the shop’s sourcing and production methods, acclimates them to daily operations, spearheads the Butcher Basket Program, and leads instruction for many of the Butchery Classes.

Koji is a native son of Berkeley, and his first job was working with high quality seafood at the Tokyo Fish Market in north Berkeley, after which he relocated to Seattle. While there, he worked in kitchens focused on the Pacific Northwest’s dining scene and attended culinary school. He returned to Berkeley in 2017 to join the team at The Local Butcher Shop. 

When outside the shop, he enjoys hiking the Bay Area’s many parks and nature preserves and its Pacific breezes. Weather permitting, he is a fan of grilling spatchcocked chicken, due to its culinary versatility, the speed with which it can come together, and for how easy it is to share.

D – Butchery Manager

D joined The Local Butcher Shop team in 2017 as a Junior Butcher, and now serves as Butchery Manager, overseeing counter-service and directing our team of professional butchers. He has a diverse culinary background, spanning from quick-service restaurants to fine dining and catering. D believes that the customer experience should always prioritize delivering something delicious while making customers feel seen and acknowledged.

Outside of work, D values a well-rounded life, which includes maintaining a healthy lifestyle through gym workouts, longboarding in San Francisco, attending music shows, and camping in the Sierra Nevada. He is also a fan of a well-executed cheeseburger, which he calls the Bee’s Knees. D lives by the philosophy that doing the right thing is always the most challenging part of any situation.

Jason Fallock – Kitchen Manager

Jason joined The Local Butcher Shop in 2018 and is the head of the shop’s culinary creativity. He oversees and directs the team that makes all sausages, charcuterie, soups, pickles, and deli meats. The daily sando offerings are his conceptions, and he shares his deep culinary knowledge with the greater community in both the food he creates, and in the butchery and culinary classes he teaches at the shop.

His culinary career began working in kitchens in in his hometown of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. After moving up from cook to Chef de Cuisine and attending culinary school, he moved to Berkeley to further his knowledge of fine dining and work with the high-quality ingredients available to the region. Prior to joining the team at The Local Butcher Shop, he was the Executive Chef at Revival, where the focus on whole-animal butchery sparked his ongoing interest in charcuterie. 

When not working Jason enjoys gaming, movies, wilderness adventure, and painting Warhammer 40k miniatures. For his own cooking, he enjoys large roasts and braised dishes which take time to cook but reward the diner with unmatched flavor. A casual meal of charcuterie, cheese and wine is equally enjoyable, but the essential ingredient is always good conversation.

Caleb Avalos – Butcher

Caleb started working with The Local Butcher Shop in June of 2017. He plays an important role in upholding the standards of the shop’s product and service through quality control systems. Most critically, he cultivates relationships with members of the community who want to support responsible farmers.

Prior to joining The Local Butcher Shop, Caleb worked in California restaurant kitchens focused on quality and service, including AQ Restaurant and Bar in Newport Beach, and Revival Bar+Kitchen in Berkeley. He has spent time traveling throughout Latin America, including Colombia and Peru, where he focused on learning more about the local culinary traditions.  

A favorite meal to cook is a 2” thick pork butt steak over charcoal. He enjoys it for all the different muscle groups that yield an amazing blend of flavors while being marbled throughout with intramuscular fat. The charcoal produces an un-imitable level of Maillard-induced browning. The end result is a rich contrast of meat-to-fat that can be sliced across the grain and served in a wide variety of dishes.

When not at the shop, Caleb is a great outdoors enthusiast. He enjoys cycling around the city, yoga, snowboarding, swimming, and disc golf. Other pursuits include fencing, live music, and, unsurprisingly, eating.

Caleb is especially proud of the level of customer service that he and the team provide to the local community. He is always looking for ways to be the best serving the shop’s clients, so that they understand the value of what the shop offers compared to other retailers.

Christina Carpenito – Bookkeeper

Originally from New Jersey, Christina joined the Local Butcher Shop in 2021 to manage the business’s bookkeeping. With her strong eye for detail and eighteen years of accounting experience, she makes sure that vendors are paid, and keeps her finger on the pulse of the fiduciary wellbeing of the shop. 

Prior to joining The Local Butcher Shop, Christina had worked with the accounting department at the Floor Store, and as the Bookkeeper and Office Manager at Magnolia Brewing Company. 

When not at the shop, she enjoys spending time with her family and making candles.

Sean Mahoney – Porter and Dishwasher

Sean joined The Local Butcher Shop in January 2023, bringing a background of experience working in restaurant and catering operations in both the Bay Area and Virginia. His responsibilities include running in house pickups from select farmers, kitchen preparation work for finished dishes, and facilities maintenance. 

Outside of the shop, Sean is an avid musician who plays in two bands and produces his own music. He plays over a dozen instruments, with a special affinity for the bass. He favorite foods to cook are stew and fresh baked bread, since they never come out quite the same, but are always great. He lives by the mantra “Always believe in yourself; never give up.”

Evan Troxell – Sando Maker

Evan has been with The Local Butcher Shop since 2021. He specializes in producing sandos by combining different ingredients to offer high quality, chef driven sandos for the public. He is also responsible for making the Butcher Shop’s famous chocolate chip and walnut cookies with leaf lard.

Prior to working at The Local Butcher Shop, Evan worked at Via del Corso in Berkeley. He is drawn to the strong and versatile flavors of Korean cooking, finding its fiery and beguiling flavors in everything from soups to street snacks and more. Outside of the kitchen, he is an active musician and loves to play as a percussionist.

Tim White – Sausage Maker

Tim has been with the Local Butcher Shop since 2020. He is responsible for preparing the various house made sausages, terrines, stocks, and soups. He has experienced the great, staining properties of large, dropped jars of turmeric, and discourages others from doing the same.

Before joining the team at The Local Butcher Shop, Tim was working with the team at Revival, a Berkeley brasserie and cocktail lounge with a focus on sustainably sourced cuisine. In his spare time, he enjoys exploring the East Bay restaurant scene to keep his finger on the pulse of its evolution and unwinding with games and movies.

Aaron Rocchino – Co-founder and former co-Owner

Aaron Rocchino

Aaron’s culinary career began at age twelve when he realized that if he wanted a car when he turned sixteen, he had to start making some money. So, he got a job as a dishwasher at his grandparents’ favorite eating establishment. He moved his way up to a busser position and then into the kitchen as a prep cook. At the age of 16, he was a trained line cook. When Aaron entered vocational high school, he had to decide between focusing on his two favorite topics, auto mechanics or culinary arts. After hemming and hawing at great length, he opted to study culinary arts. His senior year, he won a national cooking competition in Florida. The prize was a full scholarship to attend The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. While attending the Culinary Institute of America, Aaron had the opportunity to intern at Oliveto, an Italian restaurant located in Oakland, California. After completing his 6 month internship, he was offered a full-time job at the restaurant once he graduated from the CIA. After graduating in 2002, Aaron worked in New York City at Le Bernadin under the tutelage of Eric Ripert. Aaron then moved on to Tangerine and Buddakan (both Steven Starr restaurants) in Philadelphia where he learned how to cook at two very fast paced, large volume restaurants. All the while, he was trying to save up money to move out to California and to return to Oliveto. Finally, in 2003, he made the move to Oliveto in Oakland where he worked for four years, first as a line cook and ultimately as a sous chef.

It was under the leadership of Paul Bertolli and Paul Canales that Aaron developed his true cooking style and learned how to butcher whole animals and craft salumi, pate and pasta by hand. He began to understand what is meant to cook “nose to tail” as well as how a restaurant could fit into a larger community of farmers and producers. The relationships with with farmers that he worked with while at Oliveto remain to this day. (He also met his wife at Oliveto!) Aaron was then hired by Chez Panisse as one of four cooks in the famous restaurant in 2007. At Chez Panisse, Aaron continued to butcher whole animals and build relationships with farmers and producers. Aaron was chosen by Chez Panisse to represent the restaurant at Slow Food’s Terra Madre event in Torino, Italy, as well as at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Sustainable Fish event.

Monica Rocchino – Co-founder and former co-Owner

Monica Rocchino
Monica Rocchino

Monica grew up in San Rafael, CA, and then attended Brown University in Providence, RI, where she mastered the art of cooking in a toaster oven and a microwave. During her junior year in college, she attended the University of Bologna in Italy. It was here that she learned that a tomato isn’t orange but a deep crimson, and that truly fresh food tastes amazing without much tampering. Upon returning to the States, she knew that she wanted food to play a central role in her career. She also had an entrepreneurial spirit and focused her studies in economics, business and management. Upon graduating, Monica went to work at Paula LeDuc Fine Catering in Emeryville, CA, where she was hired as an Event Production Manager. Here she became more comfortable with culinary terms, pairing wines with food, and the art and importance of customer service.

After two years with Paula LeDuc Fine Catering, Monica decided it was time to tap into her business training and start her own company. Monica started Stelle Events where she planned and coordinated events for Americans both in Northern California and in Italy. The company grew to produce twelve high-end events a year. While the company was in its beginning stages, Monica worked at Oliveto Restaurant and Café in Oakland, CA, where she learned much more about Italian food, sustainability and wine pairing. She also met her future husband and co-owner of The Local Butcher Shop, Aaron. After five years of running Stelle Events, it was time to hone her sales skills, so back to Paula LeDuc Fine Catering she went as an Account Executive. She was an Account Executive for two and a half years before opening The Local Butcher Shop.