Last week saw a flurry of activity take place at James Whelan Butchers. I met with photographers and food stylists, had a visit from a celebrity chef and heard great news that a seasonal colleague of ours, Karl Ryan may be heading to the White House as part of the North South Washington Ireland Programme for Service and Leadership.
I began the week by meeting with American food photographer Moya McAllister. She is being partnered by a fellow American, Imen McDonnell who is an avid food blogger, columnist and food stylist. Photography of the book will hopefully be finished by the end of the month. This is a very exciting creative process, collaborating with many different people, the results of which will hopefully be a really stylish publication showcasing the very best of Irish artisan food.
We had a surprise visit from celebrity chef, author and co-owner of Barbecoa restaurant in London, Adam Perry Lang. Adam showed a real enthusiasm for the work that we do at James Whelan Butchers and remarked on twitter that he was “Beyond inspired in Ireland @Pat_Whelan Butcher shop has lit a fire. Shop is genius. Old School meets new school answer to industry. Star!!!”.
Adam is the author of the hugely popular ‘BBQ 25′ and co-owns Barbecoa with Jamie Oliver. I showed him our new Wagyu herd on our farm at Garrentemple and chatted with him about our dry-aging process and being able to control all elements of production, from farm to fork. He has promised to cook with me on his next visit to Ireland, so watch this space!
Finally, an article was published last week in the local broadsheet newspaper the Nationalist, covering the amazing story of a college colleague of ours at James Whelan Butchers, Karl Ryan who is heading to Washington D.C. as part of the North South Washington Ireland Programme. This internship could see Karl paired with an institution, a congressman on Capitol Hill or even at the White House. So while Barrack Obama makes his way to Moneygall, Karl will be making his own journey to Washington DC. Karl will not find out where he will serve his internship until later this month but both myself and everyone at James Whelan Butchers would like to wish him the best of luck and continued success to him in the future! Karl has helped us for many years during college holidays and we hope the inspiration we have given him will be taken all the way to the White House. I look forward to bringing some good Irish artisan food to Barrack Obama’s kitchen!
We hope you enjoyed reading this post by Pat Whelan of James Whelan Butchers. Pat is a 5th generation butcher, cook book author and the director of James Whelan Butchers with shops in Clonmel, the Avoca Food Market Monkstown and Avoca Rathcoole. Sign up to our newsletter for more updates from James Whelan Butchers
