To celebrate National Butchers’ Week in the UK, we’re shining a spotlight on one of the most important parts of our business – our butchery.
It all starts with Daryl, our head of all things butchery. From minute steaks to côte de boeuf, and every cut in between, Daryl and his team keep the restaurants and Côte at Home supplied with high-quality beef every day of the year. Daryl’s 40-year career started with a Saturday job in his local butchers when he was just 13. y 16, he had committed to butchery full-time. Drawing on his vast experience, we asked him in 2020 to establish our very own in-house butchery—making us one of the few national brands with such a unique asset.
“I love the challenges”, says Daryl, “no day is ever the same and I’m always thinking about how to improve our quality, as well as coaching and training my team of four, who’ve all been with me since the start”.
When it comes to sourcing our steaks, quality and consistency are non-negotiable – and having our own butchery gives us complete control over both.
We pride ourselves on delivering fresh steaks to our restaurants on a daily basis, and every single one can be traced all the way back to the farm the animal came from. Having our own butchery means we can buy primal cuts—that’s whole striploins, rib-eyes and fillets cut from the carcass—and butcher them down into the individual steaks that you’d find on our restaurant menu.
Enjoy our Executive Chef Steve Allen’s top tips for cooking an excellent steak every time, along with his favourite sauces
The star of the show when it comes to steak is our côte de boeuf – a large individual French-trimmed rib-eye on the bone. After extensive taste tests led by Daryl, alongside Executive Chef Steve Allen and Head of Purchasing Lloyd Sheppard, we agreed on using British beef, hand-selected for its exceptional quality.
Dry-aged for a minimum of 28 days, our côte de boeuf is matured in our pink Himalayan rock salt ageing room for a deeper flavour. When it comes to maturing steak, pink Himalayan salt has natural antibacterial properties which helps prevent harmful bacteria growth. It can also be easily cut in blocks and polished – the perfect building material! We finish the côte de boeuf ageing process when we feel each piece is at its best, and then each steak is cut by hand, ready to send to the restaurants.
Our handmade 6oz burgers are made from scratch in the butchery every day, using a blend of trim from our prime steak cuts with a little added fat to ensure the correct moisture level for the perfect patty. A little seasoning is added to ensure maximum flavour, then they’re hand pressed by our skilled team ready to be sent out to our restaurants.
Try one today at your local Côte
