Beef
Beef
Good beef is the sum of its parts: breed and genetics, rearing conditions, what it ate, the climate it lived in, whether it was male or female, how healthy it was, how old it was, how it was handled, slaughtered, aged, butchered and cooked.
Our approach is to principally serve beef from extensive or regenerative systems, typically raised on small family-run farms in the UK and Ireland.
We favour traditional breeds and longer, slower rearing that yields marbling in the meat and juiciness and flavour in the steak.
In addition, and predominantly for our specials board, we carefully source small parcels of beef from further afield, including 100 percent grass-fed Wagyu from New Zealand. The pioneering farmers we work with raise Wagyu on a fully grass-based diet and slower timeline, resulting in the succulence and tenderness you expect from Wagyu, paired with an uncommon depth of flavour.
We judge beef primarily on flavour, juiciness and tenderness. There are as many styles of amazing beef as there are with wine. Just as we wouldn’t dismiss a wine because it wasn’t oak-aged or made from a specific grape, we love lots of different styles of beef: from tender and subtle to rich and buttery, and even intense and almost overpowering.
The Flat Iron Herd
We have always been passionate not just about serving great beef, but also about learning how to breed and raise the best possible cattle. In the same year Flat Iron was set up, we travelled to Thirsk, Yorkshire, to meet third-generation beef farmer Charles Ashbridge. Talking about how breed, feed and husbandry could come together to make the best beef anyone had ever tried sparked the idea of starting our own herd. With Charles’ experience and expertise, we knew we could learn everything about how to breed and raise the best cattle.
We began with rare and traditional breeds. The cattle lead a longer, stress-free and well-fed life as we strive to produce the best beef we possibly can. In recent years we have supplemented this with a Wagyu suckler herd. It has been rewarding to put focus on rearing cattle from one of our favourite breeds, and we are now proud to be able to share what we believe to be excellent British Wagyu with our guests.
Covent Garden BUTCHERY
Since opening our first restaurant Soho in 2012, we've practised whole carcass butchery - when you’re willing to take the whole animal, you get the pick of the bunch.
At the beginning we were butchering in the individual restaurant kitchens, but when our Covent Garden restaurant opened, we had the opportunity to build an in-house butchery.
We use the traditional European technique of seam butchery, which enables us to unlock and serve many delicious but lesser-known cuts. We work with carefully chosen farmers and small producers across the UK. Each week, they supply us with the highest quality rare, native and uncommon beef carcasses, which are cut at the Flat Iron Butchery by our butcher Scott and his apprentice Jorge.
You can sample these exclusive cuts at our Covent Garden restaurant, or at one of our Carcass Club events – keep an eye out for more events on our Instagram page.
