Gamekeepers. Farmers. Chefs.

The goal of the Gamekeepers, Farmers & Chefs is to celebrate the collaborative nature of the relationships we have with our customers and highlight those customers’ businesses. At Gamekeepers, we want to celebrate the joy and connection of dining out in great restaurants in Victoria, and feature the outstanding produce we source for these restau-rants and those farmers who produce it.

The Farmer

“We started using John Dee beef when we had our restaurant in Albert Park,” says Gamekeepers’ co-owner Annabelle Hoban, “and we never turned away from it, the qual-ity and the CONSISTENCY is incredible. When we bought Gamekeepers, John Dee be-came our premium brand. We have worked with them very closely for the past nine years and we are very proud of this product.”

It’s this consistency of quality that has seen John Dee become the leading beef proces-sors in the country. As the oldest, single-family owned meat processor in Australia John Dee lives and works by their commitment to service, quality and consistency, and this commitment has seen the brand recognised and respected globally.

Based in Warwick, two hours west of Brisbane in Queensland, John Dee was established by the Hart family in 1939.

The Yarranbrook feedlot - where the John Dee cattle are fed before processing - is lo-cated on the Southern Darling Downs, centrally located within a large grain-growing and cattle-breeding district. The Feeder cattle are purchased direct from farmers by John Dee and are fed high-qual-ity grain. Careful husbandry is carried out by trained and experienced feedlot staff to supply prime grain fed cattle to John Dee Warwick's processing facility.

John Dee cater to their customers specifications; from the Premium grass-fed beef to Banksia beef (grain-fed for a minimum of 60 days) and the Diamond Dee - the marble score 4-5 for the Diamond Dee complements the Marble score 6-7 in the Diamond Dee Black range.

John Dee is always on the Gamekeepers product list and is loved by our customers.

The Chef

Chef Ben Isaacs moved to Melbourne from his native Glasgow, Scotland over 20 years ago and has never looked back. “Australia has fantastic produce and as a chef it was easy to stay.”

“I started using Gamekeepers in 2005 with the former owners when I was head chef at Jimmy Watson’s in Carlton” says Ben. Now, ensconced as Executive Chef of The Local Taphouse in St Kilda and Stomping Ground in Collingwood, he still buys much of his meat from Game-keepers, including chicken, pork, lamb, small goods, salamis and the shoe string fries (used in this recipe).

What is it about the Gamekeepers that has seen him stay with them so long? “There’s a lot of noise in the Melbourne food scene so it’s really important to be able to access different products.

Gamekeepers has access interest-ing cuts, such as the petit tender that we’re using here,” he says. Ben loves using the Petit Tender when it’s available, “you don’t often see it in Melbourne, it’s an American cut but Gamekeepers get it from John Dee in Queens-land who are consistent producers of great quality beef.”

The Petit Tender is just under the shoulder and there’s only two per animal. “It eats great and there’s limited wastage on the cut which in a commercial kitchen is important. You can go anywhere and get an eye fillet and when you go out you want to try something you don’t see at home. We keep it as a high-rotation special,” he says.

http://gamekeepersmeat.com.au http://www.johndee.com.au https://thelocal.com.au https://www.stompingground.beer