As a restaurant with meat dishes on our menu it is important to us to know the provenance of the meat that we serve and, out of respect to the animals, to make the most of them. That is why we are proud to buy in whole hindquarters from our suppliers in Scotland and butcher them in-house, adapting our menu to celebrate each cut as we work our way through the carcass.

Chef and butcher Dave Lumley holding a whole hind quarter of Hereford beef

Dave Lumley joined the team in the Bella’s kitchen in late spring of this year. Originally training as a chef, he soon found that his favourite part of the job and one that he was particularly skilled at was preparing meat dishes and so left the kitchen to pursue a career as a butcher. Having learnt the trade, Dave now had two complimentary skill sets and eventually he returned to cooking in restaurants, allowing him to combine his enjoyment of the methodical and highly skilled butchery process with the excitement of serving the result of this hard work to diners.

Our beef comes from Hereford cattle raised in Scotland, and we believe that it is the best beef available. The Hereford breed dates back 250 years and is renowned for producing excellent beef that is flavourful and tender; Herefords raised on grass produce well marbled meat that is full-flavoured and high in omega-3, with an even layer of fat coverage that helps to seal in moisture during cooking.

British cuts of beef.

We now buy whole hindquarters rather than specific cuts as we did previously, and we dry hang them for four to five weeks at the Surf'n'Turf butchers in St Peter Port before bringing them back to the Bella to be butchered. Our head chef David Hook then plans his menus around the different cuts of beef that Dave can prepare, and the carcass is butchered appropriately so that nothing goes to waste. More often than not the sirloin is served as a roast or some is reserved and served as T-bone steaks, the fillet is cut into steaks, the rib-eye is served as cote de boeuf and the rump is used for our specials. The trimmings are minced and turned into our homemade beef burgers, and finally the bones are used to make stock. Very little goes to waste.

David splitting down the whole loin to remove the strip loin (sirloin) on the left. He has already removed the fillet, on the right.

Ready to roast: A full strip loin (sirloin) cut into two long lengths.

As a result you’ll see more than just steaks and Sunday roasts on the Bella’s menu, as we celebrate our ingredients and make the most of the meat that we serve in an attempt to be as sustainable and respectful as possible.

The Bella Luce Classic Burger.

Alongside foraging for seasonal ingredients and celebrating the small boat fishermen who supply our fish and shellfish, bringing our butchery in-house is just another of the efforts that we’re making here to champion the ingredients that we use and offer the best dishes possible, be that a classic beef burger or a fillet mignon Rossini.