The Vineyard Hotel announces a more ‘ethical’ kitchen and a partnership with Farmer Angus
The Vineyard Hotel in Newlands is excited to announce a few changes in their kitchen – including a partnership with Farmer Angus, which sees the introduction of his beef and free range eggs to the hotel’s menus in the Garden Lounge and The Square Restaurant.
The Vineyard Hotel places heavy emphasis on being an environmental conscious property and has won numerous awards for their sustainability efforts over the years. While they do support various other ethical meat suppliers, the new partnership with Farmer Angus serves to further entrench this philosophy across all aspects of the hotel’s operations.
Says Executive Chef at the Vineyard Hotel, Carl van Rooyen, “An extensive search for a sustainable and ethical source of beef was carried out, which not only took potential suppliers’ farming methods into account, but also included a blind taste-test to ensure guests would also have the most enjoyable meal. After our investigations, Farmer Angus was an obvious choice as a supplier.”
Farmer Angus is based at Spier in Stellenbosch, where he practises biodynamic farming techniques. He is fiercely ethical, allowing his cattle to roam freely, without the use growth hormones or artificial feed.
Chef Carl continues, “Farmer Angus is a man who is really passionate about conserving the environment. As this resonates so deeply with our principles here at the Vineyard Hotel, we could not be more excited about the future of this partnership. Currently, we are using his beef mince in our burgers in the Garden Lounge and some of his other beef products in selected a la carte dishes in The Square Restaurant. We have also started slowly introducing his free-range eggs into our a la carte menu as well.”
The beef used in the burgers has been dry-aged for two weeks and guests can expect the burgers to have a more intense flavour. Waitrons will also give diners the option of enjoying them with no basting, allowing guests to better appreciate the quality of the meat.
Chef Carl concludes, “We are also using Farmer Angus’ Flat Iron steak in the Square Restaurant – a delicious cut from the shoulder area that forms part of the nose to tail cooking ethos we are trying to promote. With only 3% of the animal generally used as fillet, sirloin or rump, it is easy to ignore the other available cuts, which generally hold so much more flavour. We are keen to see what guests think of this new cut!”