In January 2022, Head Chef at Oysters Restaurant & Winebar, Niall Gorham, determined to embark upon a collaborative initiative of curing beef for 100 days set out and what was to come was a partnership like no other.

Local produce has always been central to culinary and beverage offerings at Oysters with McCarron’s Butchers, Raphoe and Wild Atlantic Distillery, Aghyaran never far from the mix, it almost seemed like destiny that we would team up with both.

McCarron’s Butchers is a family-run business with a long tradition of supplying top eateries and locals for many a year whilst Wild Atlantic Distillery, albeit in its infancy, has already relished significant success in both the gin and whiskey markets -both producers exist as indisputable paradigms of the essence of premium local produce on our doorsteps in the North West.

The 100 day countdown began as the curing process commenced with two carefully selected sides of beef from McCarron’s Butchers which was to be paired with Wild Atlantic Distillery’s ‘New Make Spirit’.

The curing process entails wrapping the meat in cloth to lock in the whiskey all the while tenderising the beef and capturing the unique flavour.

Whilst the palates of Oysters’ diners have already become acclimatised to the tenderness and succulent flavours of 28-day dry-aged steak, the anticipation for the 100-day curated steak is palpable.

Throughout the process, Niall embarked regularly upon the short trip to Raphoe to check in on and monitor the curing process, with plans for the ultimate culinary offering formulating in his psyche. This coming weekend (May 6th) will deliver the resultant 100-day whiskey aged beef to the plates at Oysters in the form of Côte de Boeuf and Ribeye steaks.

Let the tastebuds be awakened!