ABOUT US
Restaurant & Farm
The way we’re doing this is agreeing to a cross-shareholding with a farm, unusual for a restaurant. This farm is run by a chap, Barny Butterfield, who earns his keep supplying organic produce to the big supermarkets. He’s not complaining (much), but he’d like to loosen the collar a bit. He farms in the pre-war, proper way. He gets most of his techniques from talking to old farmers down the pub who can remember how things used to be done. Breeds are chosen for their flavour, not for ease of production. He feeds his cattle and pigs natural foods and allows them to grow slowly to an age that gives the meat the juiciest taste. They are bred and kept in a genuinely free range way. We’re talking rolling muddy fields and exposure to the sun and (mostly) rain. ‘If you pick a fruit before it’s ready, it won’t taste any good’, says Barny. ‘It’s the same with animals’. His farm also supplies us with apple juices, cider and ginger beer

"He farms in the pre-war, proper way."
Business Sense
With a stake in each other’s businesses, we’re joined at the hip and that means we can do things differently. Most restaurants decide the menu then order in the cuts, ignoring whatever is left. We don’t do that. We take the whole beast directly from Barny. There’s no need for a wholesaler and we have our own butcher. In return, Platform gets a dedicated, guaranteed supply of some of the best traditionally farmed meat in England. Our chefs and customers are happier with the product because we know all about it – the feed, the breed, how it has lived and so on. As Barny says, ‘If you want a great tasting animal, give it a happy life.’ Once you get him talking about proper old school farming it’s hard to get him to stop.

