Menu Dorset issue 19 *MENU18..dorset pdf issue 19 | Page 12

High
 P
Made
in
dorset
L E N T Y 
Steaks
Brace of Butchers
Kingspoint House
5 Queen Mother Square
Poundbury
Dorset
DT1 3BW
01305 260956
www.braceofbutchers.co.uk
12
“T
here was a serious lack of quality butchers in the
area. I felt that we could emulate what Bridport
had done, but in our county town.” That vision would
result in the launch of Poundbury’s Brace of Butchers in
2013. Here’s where it gets confusing, though. Those words
were spoken by Tom Amery. As in Tom Amery of The
Watercress Company fame, a double Dorset food pioneer
with fingers in both the salad and meat camps.
“We wanted to push the boundaries of what a butcher’s
shop had been for the last 15 to 20 years,” explains Tom.
That meant a return to traditional butcher craft, hiring
two expert local cleaversmiths, and forming a strong
partnership with Dorchester farmer John Hoskin, who
had won a prestigious Beef Farmer of the Year award a few
years previously.
“John had his herds right next to the hill fort of Maiden
Castle, which had been a farming location for 5,000 years,”
explains Tom. “It just felt right. Dorchester was formed on
the basis of Maiden Castle.”
Premises were secured in Poundbury on the site where
John had once grazed his cattle. “Serendipity,” according
to Tom. So far, the landlord has been supportive. “Prince
Charles has visited, and congratulated us on winning
the Newcomer of the Year at the Farm Shop and Deli
Awards,” reveals Tom. “He said he’d always wanted a
butchers at Poundbury.”
Add on a 2015 Butchers Shop of the Year, and a 2016
Taste of Dorset Award, and you get the impression the
shop is doing something right. The secret, according to
Tom, is a team who have followed a “true apprenticeship”,
learning the traditional skills to break down a whole
carcass into the cuts others can’t reach. 64 cuts and
counting, to be precise. More recently, Weymouth
restaurateur Mark Vaughan has come in to provide
consultancy on product and recipe development,
particularly the preparation of oven-ready cuts. Other
initiatives have kept the customers coming, such as the
Saturday Lamb classes with demonstrations on how to roll,
joint and fashion a crown of lamb fit for a future king.
Being a Dorset Food and Drink member has also
been significant for Brace of Butchers’ rapid rise, Tom
recognises. “As you start off a business, you need that
support and assistance. As you develop, you become a
champion of the start-ups. Everyone starts at the bottom
and as you work your way through you need to remember
that there are new businesses that are coming behind us
that are pushing us on,” he says.
www.menu-dorset.co.uk