Butcher News

Teaming up with Rick Stein

We're very excited to announce that we will be sponsoring Rick Stein's upcoming one-off show at the London Palladium.

On December 9th, one of the world's most respected chefs will be at the Palladium for one night only, hosting a live theatre show, featuring cooking and tales of his many, well-documented travels.

We are very proud to have been asked to supply the meats for the event, and in return, we have been given 5 pairs of tickets to the show for our customers.

We will be running a competition very soon and you could join Rick there on the night for what promises to be a delicious, entertaining evening.

For more information please click here

Allens - Suppliers to the very best chefs in the country

All of us here at Allens have been delighted to hear that of the top 100 restaurants named at last night's National Restaurant Awards, 23 are Allens customers!

This is no mean feat, especially given the relatively small area which we deliver to in Central London.

We are very pleased to be able to boast that our customers really are the best of the best.

We always knew it, but this confirms it!

For more information and a full listing of the top 100 Restaurants, please click here

More achievements for London’s oldest and finest butchers.

At the start of this month Allens of Mayfair gained SALSA accreditation, against the SALSA standard.

Salsa is a food-safety standard written by experienced food safety experts to reflect both the legal requirements of producers and the enhanced expectations of 'best practise' of professional food buyers. SALSA certification is only granted to suppliers who are able to demonstrate to an auditor that they are able to produce safe and legal food and are committed to continually meeting the requirements of the SALSA Standard.

SALSA is a non-profit making joint venture between the four main trade associations representing the UK Food Chain - from farm to fork.

The National Farmers Union (NFU)

Representing farmers diversifying into on-farm production

The Food and Drink Federation (FDF)

Representing food and ingredient manufacturers and suppliers

The British Hospitality Association (BHA)

Representing the UK's foodservice and catering industry

The British Retail Consortium (BRC)

Representing retailers responsible for the majority of UK food sales.

The Institute of Food Science and Technology operate the scheme throughout the UK and maintain this website with support from Scottish Food Quality Certification who co-ordinate mentoring resources in Scotland. All of these bodies make up the independently chaired Governance Committee which over see the SALSA Scheme.

Allens of Mayfair has scooped the Top award at the Meat Trades Journal ‘Butchers shop of the year for South of England 2011’

Allens came through the first round of judging in September 2011 out of the highest ever level of entries, along with Walter Rose & son, Devizes, and Parson’s Nose, London. Then after judge’s visits in October was declared the winner 16 November 2011 at the prestigious awards ceremony at the Landmark Hotel London.

The judge’s criteria included Attractiveness of displays, Helpfulness of staff, Hygiene, Work with suppliers, and Local community contribution. Ed Bedington, editor of Meat Trade Journal, said “judging for this competition is always a tough challenge, as there are some superb shops coming through each year. It was great to see some new entrants coming forward for the first time, and quite a few completely new businesses to the trade. “This competition is a fantastic barometer for the industry, and to see not only existing, superb operators thriving out there, but also great new businesses coming on stream is a real pleasure. I’d like to congratulate all the shops entering out competition and it’s only a shame we can’t put them all through to the final”

David House, and Justin Preston Allens, and Rare butchers company Directors said “It’s a real tribute to all the team at Allens, were proud that the shop in Mount street, London has a 120 years history for giving great service to its Customers, and offering a vast range of high quality meat with exceptional providence, and full traceability”

Allens has also just been certified November 2011 for the second year with SALSA, Safe and Local Supplier Approval a nationally recognised food safety certification scheme specifically developed for small and micro producers, the scheme allows businesses to demonstrate that they operate using a robust and effective food safety standard. The schemes wide acceptance by retailers and food service providers has assisted in SALSA becoming the Food Safety scheme for producers with big ambitions.

Allens of Mayfair Turkeys

Allens of Mayfair Turkeys are ready for you to order. Click here to order.

Delivery can be made from the 22nd of November in time for thanks giving all the way up to 22nd of December.

Allens of Mayfair free range old fashioned breads Turkeys are from a small family farm in Kent where they roam free in the grassy paddocks and meadows.

Our turkeys are slow growing, reared to full maturity on a natural, cereal based diet that gives that delicious and succulent flavour.

Allens turkeys are processed on the farm using tradition methods, meaning there is no need for live transportation, all birds are dry plucked by hand and are hung for a minimum of 10 days in a temperature controlled room.

All turkeys are subject to three stages of quality control to ensure that your bird reaches you in perfect condition

Wild Turkeys are native to huge expanses of North American Forrest. We firmly believe that the only way to produce a good quality Christmas Turkey is to ensure that the natural habitat enjoyed by their wild cousins is replicated as much as possible for the birds on our farm. To that end all of our Turkeys are free, from the age of 8 weeks, to roam the grassy fields and meadows. This is critical to ensuring that our birds lead a natural and happy lifestyle.

Turkeys love to explore their surroundings, playing in dust baths and roosting on straw bales, low branches and fences. At night they take themselves off to bed on the deep straw beds in the barns and field shelters, where they go for warmth and protection, away from the elements and with a constant supply of fresh food and water.

Our Turkeys are slow growing, old fashioned breeds, reared to full maturity. They are fed a natural, cereal based diet, free from antibiotics and growth promoters. For some great turkey recipes and cooking ideas check out our turkey recipes 

The Glorious 12th

Every year the game season starts with the shooting of Grouse on the 12th August.

Allens of Mayfair takes pride in being the largest game distributer in London. Every year we send a team lead by the company owner David House up to for the first shot of the season. David and the team compete to shoot the very first Grouse of the day.

Once the Grouse have been shot and some 500 birds have been collected together, they are carefully loaded up into our vans.

From there they are rushed back to our Mayfair store some 300 miles away. Where waiting in anticipation, our highly trained game butchers are poised to start plucking the birds to get them prepared for the restaurants.

Once the first birds are ready they will be sent out to many of London’s finest establishments to be cooked for those select few who are lucky enough to be tasting the first Grouse of the day.

From the moors to a dinner plate in less than a day.

We don’t stop there, the next day another 1000+ Grouse will arrive at the shop to be prepared and sold that day.

To Follow the story follow us on facebook and twitter where regular updates will be made on the progress of the first Grouse.

Allens On TV

Allens and its owners have their very own TV Show - Butchered. It's being screened by Dave (Sky 111, Virgin 128, Freeview 19) on Wednesday 22nd June at 8pm and will be repeated on Saturday 25th June.

The show follows Allens owners, David and Justin as they embark on a mission to shoot the first grouse of the season, source Zebra for Shaka Zulu, London’s not to mention, Europe’s largest African restaurant and visit Paris to find the magnificent, milk fed Poulet de Bresse.

Educating Chefs

At Allens we like to advise as well as just supply. We regularly visit our large corporate customers and hold demonstrations and talks with the staff, which enable them to make a more informed decision when buying meat.

This picture was taken at a recent talk we gave at the Nokia head office in Surrey.

Kitchen Burnout

The new show from chef supremo Marco Pierre White was aired on ITV1 in April 2010.

Kitchen Burnout was the follow-up to Hells Kitchen, and saw celebrity contestants cooking in a real working restaurant.

As usual, Allens supplied the meat for the entire series.

For more information see the Marco Pierre White website

Taste of London

Allens of Mayfair exhibited again at this summer's Taste of London festival in Regents Park.

It was great to get out in the sunshine and meet some of our lovely customers!

For more information see the Taste of London website

New Recipes

We now have some recipes from some of our more well known customers.

Take a look at the Recipes Page for more information.

Good Food Producers Guide 2010

Allens of Mayfair has been included in the Good Food Producers Guide 2010!

This fully independent guide, written by the award-winning Daily Telegraph food writer Rose Prince, lists the best places to buy food across the United Kingdom.

Ranging from farm shops to delis, food markets to specialist producers, The Good Food Producers Guide 2010 is the indispensible handbook for anyone who loves to buy good food.

Published by Hardie Grant Books, it is priced at £14.99 and is available in bookshops and online.

BBC Young Butcher of The Year

In November 2009, the BBC ran a series of programmes showcasing the best of British professional talent.

George Lamb hosted, in a programme celebrating the UK's unsung heroes, as five young butchers competed for the title BBC Young Butcher of the Year.

Faced with four intense challenges designed to test their skills, creativity and knowledge, they were judged by master butcher David Lishman and Justin Preston - one of the owners of our very own Allens of Mayfair

(L-R) Justin Preston, George Lamb, and David Lishman

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