True Character

I've been a butcher all my life . . . I come from five generations of farmers and butchers so I guess it's practically written in my DNA.

It's a family business . . . People ask if I expect my children to follow in my footsteps. I indulge thoughts of handing it on one day, but I believe it's a rather selfish ambition to impose on them and they are all still little.

The customers' demands have changed over the years . . . but our ethos hasn't changed: and that is good food and great staff. My customers have always demanded value but they also understand quality.

Selling meat online . . . has been a fascinating new part of our business. You can order meat from our website from anywhere in Ireland and it will be with you within 24 hours.

I wanted our shops to be altars to meat . . . We're passionate about what we do and I want our shops and retail environments to reflect that.

I breed a lot of my own stock which is really important to me . . . It means I can stand over every cut of meat that bears the James Whelan Butchers' name. I have my own farm, my own abattoir and my own shops.

I travel a lot to keep abreast of changes in the industry . . . It's fun to chase changes around the world and adapt them for my business. It's also a great way for my wife and I see new places and piously call it work.
It gives me a buzz when . . . a plan comes together and also when I accidently brush off the electric fence on the farm!

The best advice I've ever been given is . . . don't let compliments go to your head and don't let criticism go to your heart.

My dream dinner party guests would be . . . Rick Stein, Pope
Francis, Darina Allen, Jamie Oliver and President Obama.

And I'd cook them . . . Wagyu steaks with a luxurious old fashioned rice pudding for desert.

Five things I always have in my larder are . . . Maldon salt, butter, red onion marmalade, eggs and cheese.

But if I only had a tenner to go shopping with . . . I'd buy a bottle of red wine. I have my own steaks.

My ideal day off is spent with the family . . . That is when they're all in a good mood and not tired or cranky.

I really care about . . . people reconnecting with what they eat, knowing where food comes from and cooking and eating real food.

I'm really good at . . . blind tasting tests, especially for chocolate.

I wish I was better at . . . beach volleyball.

I often imagine myself as . . . a masked superhero saving the world from poor quality meat and boring butchers' shops.

My guilty pleasure is . . . a late night fish and chips from a proper chip shop and a Charlie's Angels box set.

In conversation

with Marie-Claire Digby

jameswhelanbutchers.com