I am always massively impressed by people who are truly good at what they do, people who are committed to giving exceptional service, delivering quality and value for money time and time again, Nigel Wilkinson is just such a person, I have a huge soft spot for butchers, my grandfather and uncle were both butchers and I spent a great deal of my childhood knee deep in wood shavings in very cold butchers shops, the smell, the cleanliness, the display of beautifully butchered meats still make me feel nostalgic.
Unfortunately for my Uncle a huge supermarket opened at the end of his street and sold pre-packed cheap meats, he struggled on for a while but inevitably lost his business and ended up behind the counter of the butchery department in the store that had put him out of business.
This is Nigel Wilkinson, his shop is in Holmefield Road, North Shore, he is a proper Butcher, he does butchery with a level of professionalism that is now sadly quite rare he should be a Fylde Coast Food Hero and he certainly is in my book.Nigel has the most superb selection of locally produced meats and game, he knows how to butcher and prepare it for any random recipe I take into him, he always goes the extra mile and gives me excellent advice on timinigs, portions and oven temperatures.
Besides all of this he's also always there, morning noon and night like all of us that are self employed he's working his socks off to serve our community.
I do shop with him regularly so it was no surprise when the Land Lady Julie at Langtry's told me that she buys her beautiful sausages from Nigel.
Above and below are pictures of Nigel's right hand man Oliver, watching Oliver bone and roll my leg of lamb for today's lunch and then this lovely piece of beef is like watching a dance, he handles a knife elegantly and with precision, his sewing and tying is immaculate and fast, he is proud of his work and so he should be.I always buy my meat from independantly owned butchers either Nigel or the lovely David Gigli in Wood Street, St Annes, we have businesses in both St Annes & Blckpool and I think it really is very important for all of us to support our local independent businesses, I could honestly say I don't have time but we were in Nigel's shop at the crack of dawn on Thursday morning, we'd done our shopping and were still in work before 9:00, it's just a question of making time to do things properly.
My lovely lamb has been marianading all morning and will be on the BBQ later, thanks to Nigel & Oliver for letting me take their pictures.
