National Butchers Week
This first week of March is National Butchers Week, a week celebrating the craft of butchery. Our butchery counters are at the heart of Farm Shop with lamb and beef coming from our farm in Somerset and our team are passionate about preparing meat in the best way, so that the animal is respected throughout the full process.
We have butchers of all different levels working on our counter, from budding apprentices to a skilled master butcher. Butchers go through years of training to perfect their craft, constantly learning about how to best care for the animal, prepare the best cuts and refine their skills.
Introducing Steve
Working at our Butchery Counter in Somerset is Steve Toons, who began his butchery career at 17 in Wells, where he completed an ‘improvership,’ now known as an apprenticeship. After 5.5 years as a butcher, Steve went on to serve as a police officer for 30 years.
For 10 years, he and his wife ran a smallholding, where they reared pigs, cows, and chickens—allowing Steve to continue butchering and honing his skills. In 2024, Steve joined the Farm Shop team, working closely with the team running the farm to provide you with high-quality cuts of locally reared, grass fed meat online and in-store.
Steve’s Favourite Cuts
“Lamb Shoulder from the Somerset farm is one of my top choices, simply because it’s the best. It has more fat so it becomes nice and tender when slow roasted and holds its flavour. You can’t beat a Ribeye Steak, it has much more flavour than other cuts because it comes from the for end of the animal – which is why having high quality meat makes all the difference. I also like a Shoulder of Pork, which is great for making pulled pork with a blackened cayenne mix.”
Introducing Harvey
In Mayfair, our Butchery Manager is Harvey Baker, who has worked at Butcher Shop since we opened in 2023. He began his butchery career at the age of 13 with a Saturday job and decided at 15 that an apprenticeship in butchery suited him better than A-levels. Harvey loves learning about the provenance of meat including tours of our farm to find out about our cattle and sheep.
“A favourite has to be our delicious rotisserie chicken. We cook the home brined birds daily, taking orders on our very own ‘Chicken Line’; a direct number customers can call or text to reserve halves or wholes for collection. “