We have teamed up with Donald Russell to create a Steak Night Dinner menu guaranteed to satisfy the taste buds of all meat lovers.
We caught up with them to discover more about their heritage, the provenance of their meat and learn about how they came to be awarded the Royal Warrant.
Who is Donald Russell?
The name comes from a joint venture between Aberdeenshire farmer William Donald and butcher John Stone of Russell Meats. The merging of the two in 1974 lead to us supplying some of the most prestigious restaurants and hotels including Kensington Place, Simpson’s-in-the-Strand and the Grand Hotel in Monte Carlo.
Tell us a bit about your business?
At Donald Russell, we have a passion for food that we love to share with our customers. Based in the small community of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire, we are a family-owned business with a team of around 220 people who go above and beyond to share their knowledge of and passion for quality food and friendly service. We love food. It is important to our lives and expresses our care for those who are important to us and we know you feel the same.
We are a supplier to luxury restaurants around the world, and proud holders of a Royal Warrant for almost 40 years. Our exacting standards and attention to detail run through everything we do. From our team of experienced Butchers here in Aberdeenshire to our in-house Chef, everyone shares our commitment to getting everything right, every time.
We demand high standards of provenance and preparation with all our products and ingredients, so you, your family, and your friends will always enjoy superior quality and superb taste, delivered to you to enjoy in your own home.
What makes your meat so special / unique?
We believe in quality you can taste and go above and beyond to ensure that quality flows through everything we do.
We are famous for our 'big four' steaks; fillet, sirloin, ribeye, and rump; which come from the best British beef fed on green grass and traditionally matured for up to 35 days for superb tenderness and rich, rounded flavour. Our lamb graze on the hillsides and our corn-fed chickens roam free, because we know that taking care is what makes the difference for superb taste.
This dedication to quality means that all the beef we buy in is inspected by hand to ensure it meets our standards and is rejected where it doesn’t.
In addition, we have a range of exclusively Scottish beef and pork – certified as Scotch so you know the quality will be high. We also have some Scottish specialties ready to deliver across the UK, from classics like Lorne Sausages and Haggis, to salmon, smoked in the country’s oldest smokehouse, and genuine Arbroath Smokies.
Our passion for quality extends across our wide variety of foods, including Scottish venison and game, fish and seafood from the coast of Scotland, traditionally cooked cured meats, and delicious ready-made Chef’s meals from our kitchen. Everything is made from the finest ingredients, and is flash-frozen for freshness and to avoid food waste.
"Our Butchers use their finely tuned senses of sight, touch and even smell to decide the precise moment when each cut is at its absolute pinnacle of maturation. It all adds up to a lush tenderness and seriously rich flavour that simply can’t develop otherwise.'' Mark Farquhar, Head Butcher
- Donlald Russell Steaks
You have been awarded the Royal Warrant? What does this mean?
This is awarded to companies who have consistently supplied members of the Royal Households with goods or services. As well as this, there are stringent conditions relating to issues like sustainability and governance that must be met and maintained. It is an accolade we are extremely proud of.
Our warrant was awarded to us by HM Queen Elizabeth II. On the sad event of her passing, any warrants she had awarded became automatically invalid. We hope that this will be renewed by HM King Charles as we continue to supply the palace with the same level of pride.
Can you tell us about the provenance of your meat?
Along with the skills of our experienced Butchers, this is the most important part of our success. Even the best Butcher can’t make great steaks from mediocre meat. As well as this, we aim to be as sustainable as possible and take this into account with all our decisions.
Our beef and lamb is always British and always grass-fed. Our chicken is free-range and British and we source much of our fish and seafood from one of Europe’s busiest ports in nearby Peterhead.
What is the most popular cut that you sell?
With our customers, our Traditional Chateaubriand is by far our most popular cut. It’s the natural tenderness and delicate flavour that makes it so popular. For our trade partners, it is our Sirloin Steaks.
— Donald Russell Beef Shin, the perfect beef cut for pies
Can you make some recommendations about what cuts to use for certain dishes?
The great thing with stews and pies is that you can take fairly humble cuts of meat and cook them slowly to achieve great results. We make our pies and curries with beef shin. You wouldn’t want to fry it up a s a steak but cooked slowly it’s meltingly tender and packed full of flavour.
Our Beef Rib Trim is a cut that used to be removed and added to mince and burgers until Chef Michel Roux Sr saw it on a tour of the butchery and thought it would be great in a stew. He was absolutely right and it’s now one of our best-sellers.
Did You Know...
CLICK HERE to read more and to view the menu.
We caught up with them to discover more about their heritage, the provenance of their meat and learn about how they came to be awarded the Royal Warrant.
Who is Donald Russell?
The name comes from a joint venture between Aberdeenshire farmer William Donald and butcher John Stone of Russell Meats. The merging of the two in 1974 lead to us supplying some of the most prestigious restaurants and hotels including Kensington Place, Simpson’s-in-the-Strand and the Grand Hotel in Monte Carlo.
Tell us a bit about your business?
At Donald Russell, we have a passion for food that we love to share with our customers. Based in the small community of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire, we are a family-owned business with a team of around 220 people who go above and beyond to share their knowledge of and passion for quality food and friendly service. We love food. It is important to our lives and expresses our care for those who are important to us and we know you feel the same.
We are a supplier to luxury restaurants around the world, and proud holders of a Royal Warrant for almost 40 years. Our exacting standards and attention to detail run through everything we do. From our team of experienced Butchers here in Aberdeenshire to our in-house Chef, everyone shares our commitment to getting everything right, every time.
We demand high standards of provenance and preparation with all our products and ingredients, so you, your family, and your friends will always enjoy superior quality and superb taste, delivered to you to enjoy in your own home.
What makes your meat so special / unique?
We believe in quality you can taste and go above and beyond to ensure that quality flows through everything we do.
We are famous for our 'big four' steaks; fillet, sirloin, ribeye, and rump; which come from the best British beef fed on green grass and traditionally matured for up to 35 days for superb tenderness and rich, rounded flavour. Our lamb graze on the hillsides and our corn-fed chickens roam free, because we know that taking care is what makes the difference for superb taste.
This dedication to quality means that all the beef we buy in is inspected by hand to ensure it meets our standards and is rejected where it doesn’t.
In addition, we have a range of exclusively Scottish beef and pork – certified as Scotch so you know the quality will be high. We also have some Scottish specialties ready to deliver across the UK, from classics like Lorne Sausages and Haggis, to salmon, smoked in the country’s oldest smokehouse, and genuine Arbroath Smokies.
Our passion for quality extends across our wide variety of foods, including Scottish venison and game, fish and seafood from the coast of Scotland, traditionally cooked cured meats, and delicious ready-made Chef’s meals from our kitchen. Everything is made from the finest ingredients, and is flash-frozen for freshness and to avoid food waste.
"Our Butchers use their finely tuned senses of sight, touch and even smell to decide the precise moment when each cut is at its absolute pinnacle of maturation. It all adds up to a lush tenderness and seriously rich flavour that simply can’t develop otherwise.'' Mark Farquhar, Head Butcher
- Donlald Russell Steaks
You have been awarded the Royal Warrant? What does this mean?
This is awarded to companies who have consistently supplied members of the Royal Households with goods or services. As well as this, there are stringent conditions relating to issues like sustainability and governance that must be met and maintained. It is an accolade we are extremely proud of.
Our warrant was awarded to us by HM Queen Elizabeth II. On the sad event of her passing, any warrants she had awarded became automatically invalid. We hope that this will be renewed by HM King Charles as we continue to supply the palace with the same level of pride.
Can you tell us about the provenance of your meat?
Along with the skills of our experienced Butchers, this is the most important part of our success. Even the best Butcher can’t make great steaks from mediocre meat. As well as this, we aim to be as sustainable as possible and take this into account with all our decisions.
Our beef and lamb is always British and always grass-fed. Our chicken is free-range and British and we source much of our fish and seafood from one of Europe’s busiest ports in nearby Peterhead.
What is the most popular cut that you sell?
With our customers, our Traditional Chateaubriand is by far our most popular cut. It’s the natural tenderness and delicate flavour that makes it so popular. For our trade partners, it is our Sirloin Steaks.
— Donald Russell Beef Shin, the perfect beef cut for pies
Can you make some recommendations about what cuts to use for certain dishes?
The great thing with stews and pies is that you can take fairly humble cuts of meat and cook them slowly to achieve great results. We make our pies and curries with beef shin. You wouldn’t want to fry it up a s a steak but cooked slowly it’s meltingly tender and packed full of flavour.
Our Beef Rib Trim is a cut that used to be removed and added to mince and burgers until Chef Michel Roux Sr saw it on a tour of the butchery and thought it would be great in a stew. He was absolutely right and it’s now one of our best-sellers.
Did You Know...
- Maturing meat gives enzymes a chance to breakdown giving the meat added flavour and increased tenderness. Knowing when it is ready is almost an art in itself.
- As well as being better tasting, grass-fed beef is better for the environment and better for the welfare of the cattle than grain-fed.
- UK households waste 4.5 million tons of food every year, much of which could be avoided by well frozen food. By flash-freezing our meat, we know it will reach customers just as it was when it left the Butcher’s knife.
CLICK HERE to read more and to view the menu.
