Wednesday 25 March 2015
Suppliers
Aubrey Allen are award-winning butchers who established their business over 80 years ago in Coventry. From just one small backstreet shop, they’ve grown to be one of the best known catering butchers in the country. They’re still a family-led business to this day, and have a range of fantastic quality products, which makes them exactly the kind of supplier we’re keen to work with. Aubrey Allen are also appointed by Royal Charter – if they’re good enough for the Queen, they’re good enough for us! As well as providing meat to hotels and restaurants across the country, Aubrey Allen also have a deli shop and restaurant of their own in Leamington Spa, which isn’t far from Stow and is well worth a visit.
Although we love stopping by the deli whenever we’re in town, we were hungry to learn more about their products, so we travelled over to the main butchery for a Meat Education and Inspiration course. The full-day course gave us the opportunity to learn more about Aubrey Allen’s values, the different cuts of meat that they offer and their unique 28-day dry ageing process. We were particularly impressed by the way they source their meat, working closely with farms to provide an excellent environment for the cattle they rear, resulting in a better quality product when it gets to the kitchen. It was also great to get a first-hand look at their dry ageing process – hanging the meat for 28 days allows the concentration of flavours to develop and intensify, providing unbeatable cuts of meat that are perfect for our chargrill menu.
We look forward to working closely with Aubrey Allen when we reopen, and we really enjoyed the opportunity to get hands-on with everything that they offer. Chris, our Head Chef, came away with lots of fantastic ideas for our new menus, and we’re sure that you’ll taste the quality in our dishes every time you visit!