A bit of a confession to start with; I’m that guy who is always walking around with a notebook on the go. I usually start my day at Meat N16, and I start it by making a cup of coffee and sitting down to list my goals for the day. Sometimes the goals are similar, and possibly mundane. There’s the Rota, holidays, notices to the Team and, of course, keeping up with the suppliers. There is a large pile of what might be described as ‘exercise’ books in my tiny office that date back a long way. Anyone who works in a similar fashion will know that, as the phone starts ringing, the list gets longer. It seems that the quicker I tick off one chore, the next one arrives. Happily, the whole process slows down around lunchtime, and I can get on with other things. It seems like an obvious thing to note, but if I look back in the books, the same things come up every year. As above, there are always in-house issue, there is always a fridge that needs an engineer and there are always customers who have questions, but add to that the seasons, religious and public holidays and our own promotions, and the little exercise books all but write themselves. And so it is, that as I looked back in last years book, guess what came up in December ….. ?
Before I get onto the topic of the moment, let me congratulate the very delightful and enthusiastic Jack Willoughby and Amelia, who won this year’s Stokey Pokey sausage competition. Their sausage of Pork, Figs, Blue Cheese, Thyme and Balsamic Vinegar, stole the show. A very worthy winner of the Stokey Pokey Cup, and really, a very nice sausage.
We had over thirty entries, from which we created six delicious finalists for our customers to taste and select the winner. Jack and Amelia won with 22% of the vote, in what was one of our best contests ever. Thank you to everyone who entered a recipe, and an equal thank you to all of you who came to vote on the day.
The next note on todays page, is CHRISTMAS! The shops are taking orders from Tuesday to Sunday. There are lists of all of our goodies in each shop and the shelves and fridges are filling up. The list is also available on our website.
Turkeys, Geese, Cockerels and Ducks are all there. The Beef is aging and the Pork is ordered. The Gammons are due to be delivered. The Team are braced to prepare Sausage Meat and Christmas Stuffing. Young Uma is on her 5th Christmas of Piggies in Blanket duties, and she is just about to celebrate her 18th Birthday (it’s a long story!). Johelle and Munira at NW5, Adam and his Team at N16 and Marisa at N6, are all primed with taut cheese wires to create a fabulous array of the finest selection of British and International cheeses, and our wine rooms are awash with something for everyone. If you can think of anything I have missed off, please let me know.
We will be open from Monday 18th December, right the way through to Sunday 24th. If you notice that we have closed an hour earlier during the week before Christmas, we’re not slacking. We just need time to get preparation done for the next day. At the time of me writing, we do still have a few delivery slots left for those who are quick.
Which reminds me; for our regular online orders customers, our last delivery day will be on Friday 15th December, at which point the shopping page will be switched off until the New Year. I hear from Craig that we will deliver on Friday 5th January 2024.
We want our customers to have a fantastic Christmas at the end of a challenging year. We want to be able to provide everything that you want, to the quality we feel our customers deserve. Please ask for anything you would like, and I will do
everything possible to make it happen.
Meat N6, Swain’s Lane N6, has been serving hot sandwiches from the front of the shop. Who knew that Troy could be so inventive! Pulled Pork, Burgers and Onglet Steak have all featured in Troy’s early endeavours, and, ably assisted by Alex, the customers are enjoying the effort. Friday, Saturday and Sunday are the dates for your culinary diary.
Why not make the trip to see what is happening at Meat N6, with the promise of a hot lunch. Seems an easy win really.
So there we are. I am likely to be busy in the coming weeks. I hope to see as many of our customers as possible in the shops, and for those I don’t see, I wish you a fantastic, food filled Christmas. By the way, I nearly forgot, we have the hottest
Christmas gift around this year – ‘Meat London-the Book’. Still plenty of time to get it signed and sent.
Happy Christmas – Paul
