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November 30, 2016

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The 5pm Dining blog was chuffed to be invited to the soft opening evening at The Spanish Butcher last night.

The latest venture from James and Louise Rusk – who also operate Hutchesons and The Butchershop Bar and Grill – opens to the public tomorrow.

The Miller Street restaurant is an appealing mix of moody industrial decor and clever, modern Spanish cooking.

A few years back, the blog ran a Chewin’ the Fat piece with James and he told us how he had been inspired to get into the restaurant trade after working at Keith McNally’s Balthazar in New York.

Complete dining experience

James had been impressed by the way that McNally didn’t just feed his customers. He created a complete environment for them to experience the food in.

The Rusks have done the same thing with The Spanish Butcher. From the expensive, tactile earthenware plates used for some of the starters to the well judged soundtrack, it’s all been carefully considered to make a memorable dining experience.

In practice, this means that the designer lamp fittings cast a flatteringly low light while the 100 cover dining room is split into several different sections with plenty of cosy nooks for whispering sweet nothings or planning world domination.

An eye-level viewing window into the kitchen shows the brigade at work or you could trundle up to the pass and watch the chefs throwing slabs of gorgeous beef on the charcoal grill.

The Spanish Butcher was buzzing last night.
The Spanish Butcher was buzzing last night.

Galician Blond cattle

As the name suggests, meat is at the heart of The Spanish Butcher’s menu. In particular, the kitchen serves beef from 12-14 year-old Galician Blond cattle from northern Spain.

At the risk of going all meat nerd, most UK-reared beef is slaughtered before it is 30 month old. Conventional wisdom has it that young means tender and old means tough.

The beef from these venerable Galician cattle throws the rule book out the window. Top restaurants in London have been fighting to source and serve Galician steaks for the last couple of years.

Now that the Rusks have brought it to Glasgow, I can happily confirm that it is swooningly tender with an initial grassy flavour giving way to a deep, rich beefiness.

The other star of the show is the beautiful pork. To be more specific, it is  5j presa Iberica bellota – top quality, acorn-fed pork. This piece explains the meat in much more detail than we have space for.

It’s one thing having great quality ingredients and letting them shine. Smart chefs take the ingredients to another level by skilfully enhancing their flavours.

Umami master class

Scallop, pork cheek, morcilla and pepper starter.
Scallop, pork cheek, morcilla and pepper starter.

The best example of this that we tried was a starter of seared, hand-dived Orkney scallop with 5j pork cheek, a red pepper soup and morcilla.

The scallop was sweet and soft while the pork cheek was salty and tender. Morcilla added earthiness while the peppers gave it smokiness. A tiny, carefully fried (quail?) egg balanced on the disc of morcilla introduced a creamy texture from the rich, runny yolk. This was a umami master class on a plate.

I’m not going to bang on about every dish on the menu. If you like beautiful beef and pork cooked confidently and with care (there are plenty of veggie and fish dishes on the menu), then give The Spanish Butcher a whirl.

The 5pm Dining blog doesn’t do reviews but this was an experience that provided style and substance.

Bravo.

Action-packed pass at The Spanish Butcher.
Action-packed pass at The Spanish Butcher.