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Passionate about meat

Hen party venues like Belfast, Dublin and Cardiff look out! A Stonehaven butcher is challenging the pulling power of such places with his own unique hen party attraction. When a group of 14 young ladies from Aberdeen made the 15 mile trip south to descend on Andrew Gordon’s butchers shop it was clear that they had discovered a potentially very different spicy & meaty outing.

They were not going to be let down by the Stonehaven butcher boys either. Trainees Aaron and Owen served up strawberries and well chilled champagne to their guests. Both youngsters train with a local boxing club and were not going to be shy when asked to serve up tasty bites bare chested with only a bow tie for modesty.

That was not the only raw flesh that was on show however. Andrew Gordon had a full counter display on for his after hours visitors and his audience were ‘treated’ to a cutting demonstration with Andrew boning and explaining the cuts off a hip of beef.

The hens had plenty of questions to ask as Andrew got near the knuckle. He held back no secrets as he revealed all about his passionate affair with the meat industry.

The hen party spent three hours with Andrew and his staff and they were fed samples of the latest meat products as well as sizeable chunks of advice and reasons for shopping at Andrew Gordon Butchers.

Andrew has traded in Aberdeen since 2008 but Stonehaven is his home town and having started in the meat trade there with Neil McIntosh and then for almost ten years with Charles McHardy, he had an ambition to open a shop there. On 1st July 2010 the former co-op shop that had become vacant after periods as a deli and a gift shop was opened as a rather smart butchers.

Andrew Gordon Butchery in Stonehaven exudes 1930’s sophistication with its Art Deco design, while successfully combining a modern interior to create a tranquil shopping environment. To obtain the foodhall atmosphere Andrew worked with Willie Waugh of Watco who fully embraced the brief.

Watco supplied the refrigeration, flooring and the eight metres long Eurocryor cabinet. To get this display case that now holds 90 trays it required one of the front windows to be removed. The pristine shopping environment compliments the quality of the meat and meat products and complete with Baro Lighting, creates a perfect theatre for open nights and demonstrations that Andrew is particularly keen on.

'Foodie Night' butchery demonstrations offer an evening of front of shop meat preparation viewing to observe how meat is prepared for basic and more adventurous cooking. Local charities, Cornerstone and UCAN, have used the opportunity for fund raising events and it was from this that the hen party approach came.

Guests at Andrew’s Foodie Nights are welcomed with a glass of wine and fed all the information they can consume. No secrets and open for questions, Andrew professes to be free with his answers. His events that have attracted up to 26 visitors at a time usually last two hours and attendees are given a 10% discount on any purchases made on the night.

Andrew Gordon caters for those seeking gluten free products and the local Coeliac Society has also booked three demonstration evenings. He has even developed his own range of Slimming Products using lean cuts and used the public analyst to certify the calorific content of his products.

All this makes Andrew Gordon Butchers a bit different. After a gap of eight years out of the trade while he was employed in sales & customer service with prestige car maker Porsche, Andrew is renowned for quality meat and customer care, even his counter tickets invite customers to engage with them. Through the middle of each ticket is the strap-line “Ask us how to cook it”.

The shop has modified its front window since opening and now boasts a ready to eat area serving fresh sandwiches, filled rolls, tapas boxes, carrot cake, salad boxes, soup and coffee. Fresh artisan bread and local strawberries complete the picture of freshness and cleanliness that translates into a great shopping experience.

The eating experience can’t be bad either since Andrew Gordon Butchery has been nominated in the Divine Dining category for independent retailers in Trend Magazine. Dinner Party or Hen Party Andrew Gordon serves them all.

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