This was the case last week when we took a trip (after having no hesitation in accepting an invite) to visit the largest family-owned champagne brand at Laurent-Perrier House on Avenue Champagne in France to get a taste of their magic.

Since 1812, Laurent-Perrier has been producing some of the finest champagnes that we at the Butchershop are privileged to list. Whilst there we got to witness first-hand the expertise and passion Laurent Perrier have for the champagne they nurture as soon as we were welcomed into the house (with a glass of champagne in tow, naturally).

View our video of the Lauren-Perrier House champagne production

The care and attention to detail the team at Laurent-Perrier have in making each individual bottle of champagne – such as the citrus-y Laurent-Perrier Brut – so palatable is an intriguing process that is based on 200 years of traditionally producing the finest champagne.

We met the men that are tasked with individually hand twisting each bottle of champagne – known as disgorging – to ensure the yeast sediment collects to provide the perfect, bubbles of fizz.  This daily process is carried out up to four years in some of Laurent-Perriers’ champagnes. This love, dedication and a strive for creating the best product is what Laurent-Perrier champion and we take our hat off to them for upholding the patriotic roots of their label.

Chef Recommends: The Laurent Perrier Brut and Brut Rose accompany meat dishes superbly, such as our Fillet or T-bone steaks with a seafood topping. Also the citrus undertones complement fruity desserts like our chocolate and orange tarte.

In the words of Laurent-Perrier, try a sip and you’ll: “never drink water again!”

Visit their website for further history and information here and our champagne section on our wine list.

In the words of a recent review from James Vs Burger our special edition fillet steak burger with homemade minced fillet beef patty, iceberg lettuce, fresh tomato, pan-seared foie gras, slow cooked short ribs, truffle mayonnaise, and gruyere cheese on a toasted brioche bun was, and we quote:

“…without a doubt the best burger we’ve ever had – not just in Scotland, but anywhere in the world”

Wow! Read this awesome review on our burger (thanks James) from the man who is passionate about eating his way across Scotland and a hell of a lotta burgers. We salute you James Lees! P.S. Glad you love our burger as much as we do!

And if you’d like to try this burger beast, it will be available tonight, albeit limited as we only have a small amount of the perfect brioche bun and all day Saturday once our baker delivers (from 12 noon).

We’ll also have a free range chicken roast feast for two from Robert Morris’ St Brides chicken farm in Strathaven. Carved at your table the slow grown grain fed chicken crown is so flavoursome, and will be served with creamy pomme mousseline, crispy haggis cake, spring vegetables and gravy from tonight.

*Please book in advance to secure your table.

This year’s graduation menu will ensure that you celebrate in true Butchershop-style. Kicking back with a glass of bubbly, our three course celebratory lunch or dinner menu begins with a choice of dishes including our braised crisped oxtail with celeriac purée and Salad Frizze Aux Lardons with Stornoway black pudding and poached hen egg.

Moving on to the main event there’s the difficult choice of Ayrshire Pork Chop on the bone, grilled Sea Bream with crushed rosevale potatoes and crispy fried prawns, and our Scottish 28 day dry-aged premium steak to name a few.

And finally to accompany your dessert selection we will have a brand new summer cocktail list that is a mélange of colours and ingredients and will certainly help you celebrate.

View the full graduation menu here. Reservations now being taken for summer graduations 2012. Call to book your table on 0141 339 2999.

This Californian, Napa Valley blend of wines was inspired by the longstanding friendship between Luke Donald and fine wine professional Bill Terlato of the family-owned Terlato Wine Group and we can’t wait to add it permanently to our wine list.

This weekend we’ve only a got a limited number of the Luke Donald Vintage Chardonnay and the Luke Donald 2006 Claret, so you’ll have to be quick off the mark to try them.

The Terlato Wine Group say: “Whether on the golf course or in the vineyard, both men share a similar passion for excellence. The wine is handcrafted in a traditional European style: a rich blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.” Need we say more?

About the wines:

Luke Donald 2006 Claret: This wine is 100% barrel aged for 16 months in French oak barrels and has vibrant flavours of black berries, espresso beans and subtle spice, producing a supple texture and a wine that is packed full of complexity.

Luke Donald 2010 Vintage Chardonnay: A golden yellow colour with Granny Smith apple and stone fruit aromas, supplemented by a touch of spice and slight notes of clove and cinnamon with a creamy, long finish. Classic Burgundian in style.

Our chefs have been creating wonders in the kitchen and this southern Spanish spring dish is no exception. Served over the weekend it got some pretty outstanding reviews from our customers and we thought we would share.

Spanish Ibérico ham is known as the best in the world as the pigs are acorn fed and the meat is of incredible quality. 

Chef has partnered the Ibérico black pigs’ cheek with truffle cauliflower purée, pickled vegetables and tiger prawn beignet which makes for a tender and flavoursome experience.

We’re thrilled to have this culinary delight on as a special and hope you feel the same. Available as a starter we recommend you try a glass of the 2006 Rioja Reserva from the Bodegas Franco-Espanolas winery to bring out the flavours of the dish.

At the Butchershop Bar & Grill we take the utmost pride in our beef and are lucky to have the best agriculture land in Scotland  on our doorstep. One of our key suppliers of our finest Scottish grass fed produce is Alex Paton – a  fourth generation farmer in the Girvan Valley, South West of the Ayrshire countryside who prides himself on rearing premium outdoor cattle fed on natural crops like barley.

Our chefs donned their wellingtons and spent the day with Alex at Cairnhill last week where he shared his incredible farming expertise and the processes (and secrets) involved in developing our signature côte de boeuf steak that we serve in our restaurant every day.

Our drying room space at Cairnhill Farm is a climate controlled hanging chill to expertly manage the maturing process of our meat. Our fillet and sirloin steak for instance are aged for up to 28 days while our signature cut hangs on the bone for 35 days. This process allows for a consistently high end product as moisture escapes from the beef,  it becomes truly tender and gives a far superior taste.

We are very happy to announce that we are the first restaurant (and steakhouse) in Glasgow to house the phenomenal Angus the Bull wine made by Hamish MacGowan and his Aberdeen Wine Company.

The philosophy behind Angus The Bull is to create a unique and innovative wine that provides an ideal accompaniment to prime beef. The ideal match for the Butchershop and our prime quality cuts of beef.

Using premium Cabernet Sauvignon grapes sourced from a number of outstanding wine regions across Victoria and South Australia, the most promising parcels are hand selected and blended to form this spectacular wine.

Intense with bright purple dues, ripe black fruits with rich dark chocolate and vanillin smoky oak aromas, this medium to full bodied palate weight is characterised by firm tannins and a savoury masculine finish. The perfect accompaniment at the Butchershop for our Scottish grass fed produce, it suits best our premium cuts of beef such as our signature 35 day dry-aged Côte de Bœuf steak. Angus The Bull is available from this evening.

Starter, main-course and dessert are being laughed off the menu and replaced with the witty compere, stand-up and encore courses. Items on the menu include house cured salmon gravalax, Scottish 28 day dry-aged rump steak and sticky toffee pudding. Have a peek at our full menu.

If that’s not enough we’ll also be celebrating the 10 year comedy anniversary by offering a 10% discount at the sight of your ticket stub throughout the festival, Monday – Thursday. Have a look at the full comedy line-up at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival website

And what’s more we’ll be running our best joke competition on Twitter, where the prize punch line will win complimentary meals for two – no kidding!

Follow us on Twitter: @butchershopgla and crack a joke using the hashtag #glacomedy in your tweet or tweet us with your joke at @butchershopgla (i.e ‘What do you call a penguin in the Sahara desert? …Lost! #glacomedy’).

Get your jokes at the ready and remember to drop by to enjoy the quality of our food – which is no laughing matter!

The 2007 Furmint is a high quality, refreshing and dry white wine from The Royal Tokaji Wine Company, one of the finest wineries in Hungary. The wine is developed from 100% Furmint grape, getting its name from the French word ‘froment’ – meaning ‘wheat’ – due to the golden, clear colour it creates.

In 1600, the first Tokaji wine was created and in 1990, the Royal Tokaji Wine Company started the winery in an effort to preserve what they considered a dying art. Since then this state of the art Hungarian winery has been producing fine wine with Karoly Ats at the helm concentrating on nurturing single-vineyard wines set in over 100 hectares. His combination of traditional and modern techniques has allowed him to create the luscious richness present in his wines.

Co-founder of the Royal Tokaji Wine Company, Hugh Johnson, describes the Royal Tokaji blend  as “a wine that would make angels sing out loud in praise”,  and we second that too. Try a glass on our decking in the cool spring air with a bowl of olives to taste apricot and fennel on the palate!

An exquisite light bodied wine, the palatability of the 2007 Furmint is further enhanced when accompanied with seafood, and fresh dishes such as our fillet of pollock and crayfish butter.

Here is our cocktail of the week for STV Glasgow – the Apple and Elderflower Collins, shaken up by David Cunningham here at The Butchershop.

Refreshing and fruity this cocktail is a firm favourite with our customers, and with spring in the air its flora aroma makes for a lovely drink indeed.

Interestingly, elderflower has antiviral and immune-boosting properties and is thought to alleviate symptoms if you suffer from hay fever. Need we say more? Another reason why you should try this drink in spring.

Have a go at making this fruity concoction yourself or let David, make one for you. Full recipe on STV accompanied with recipes for the Whisky Mac and Pink Daisy.