Restaurant and Chef Community
Swaledale Butchers® was born in The Drapers Arms
That fortuitous 2009 exchange between our founder Jorge, and Karl Goward, the then head chef of The Drapers Arms in London, led to our very first delivery.
Jorge was a one man band with a refrigerated van, working directly with independent farmers in Yorkshire to source heritage breed meat, organically growing his network of London chefs by word of mouth recommendations. Jorge and his trusty van were the link between two very different worlds, and it was by knowing the farmers first hand that Jorge supplied more than just high welfare meat to the finest kitchens in London, he delivered narrative and guaranteed provenance.
From the very beginning Swaledale has been committed to supporting small scale farmers, promoting heritage breed livestock, and supplying restaurant customers with the finest produce farmed on The Dales.
When Covid-19 forced the closure of restaurants nationwide, Swaledale and its network of small independent farmers suddenly had no market for their produce; a rethink was required to preserve this vulnerable local food supply chain. Our farmers are not fatcat big-business owners, they’re mostly multi-generational farming families who live off the land and in harmony with the landscape. Rather than chasing profit, they’re more engaged in increasing the wealth and biodiversity of their environments; their low input, extensive farms are models of sustainability. These are the very businesses to champion, these are the individual farmers to support, this is the specific meat to eat; we are passionate in our support of them, and so are our restaurant customers.
We launched our home delivery service in order to survive during the pandemic, and pave a new route to market for our farmers that would secure their future. However we will always cherish the wholesale roots of our business, and the relationships we’ve worked so hard to build with amazing chefs and restaurants for the last 14 years.
Jonathon Jones
Anchor & Hope, Canton Arms, The Stockwell Continental and Clarence Tavern, all London
In these times, I find it admirable that Swaledale is switching from supplying restaurants to all of us at home. I know they are doing this, in the main, to help support the farmers that they have such a close relationship with. A win-win situation for anyone who appreciates the best, and cares for our food producers, I can’t wait to receive my first Swaledale home delivery.
William Gleave
Bright Restaurant, London
Our Chef customers have the same passion for heritage breed meat as we do; they understand that the distinctive flavour and superior texture of our dry-aged native breed meat is unparalleled, it really gives their restaurant menu the wow factor.
At Bright we feel immeasurably proud to work with butchers like Swaledale. It’s abundantly clear that Jorge and his team have a passion for lesser known breeds of pork and beef, and have a fantastic relationship with their farmers across Yorkshire. The aroma, flavour and texture of their meat, when cooked slowly over burning coals on our grill, is a wonderful thing.
David Carter
Smokestak, London
Fat is where all the flavour lives, and the ultimate fat is that which is put down slowly and naturally as an animal matures at its own pace. Slow grown and marbled, that’s the kind of fat we’re talking about, once you’ve tasted it you can’t go back to mass produced commercial meat.
The love and care that goes into the butchery and animal husbandry really reflects in what comes through our kitchen weekly. Their beef in particular has a rich, unctuous fat ideal for barbecue – rendering through the meat slowly when smoking gently and caramelising beautifully on a hot grill. Top restaurant quality product available for the home-cook / backyard barbecue enthusiast.
Henry Harris
Chef & Beverage Director @ Wright Brothers
Our whole carcass butchery is an expert skill and a labour of love; it takes time and precision to separate each individual muscle group, but the results are so worth it.
Good meat is a joy. When I first tried a lesser known breed of pork reared on a small farm it was a moment of revelation. Whether it be beef, pork or lamb, the breed of animal defines its flavour, texture and character. When married with a good butcher who understands the responsibility of taking these prime animals and continuing the love.
Sam Kamienko
Leroy, Shoreditch, London
Swaledale meat is of a consistent high quality; all of our animals are native breed and grass-fed, and live freely in the wild landscape of the Yorkshire Dales. Our animals are free to exhibit natural behaviours and forage for a varied and nutritious diet. You really can taste the difference, happy and healthy animals provide top quality meat every time.
I've been working with Swaledale Butchers for some time now and cannot express what an amazing and consistent product they supply to myself at Leroy from their network of farmers in and around the Yorkshire Dales. Incredible heritage beef and please don’t forget the pork especially the chops. Give them a crack and support the local food supply chain.
