This July, Bar Douro will bring Maronesa beef to the UK for the very first time. Native to the Serra do Alvão in Trás-os-Montes – literally ‘Beyond the Mountains’, Portugal’s wild and isolated far northeast – Maronesa is one of the country’s most prized indigenous cattle breeds, and one of its least known outside Portugal’s borders. It has never been served in a British restaurant. On Wednesday 8th July, it will be. A five-course supper club at Bar Douro London Bridge, priced at £95 per person, marks the inaugural edition of the restaurant’s new Native Breed Series: a programme dedicated to bringing Portugal’s indigenous breeds, regional producers and food traditions directly to London.

Maronesa cattle are a breed defined by their environment. Small and powerfully built, with curved horns and broad frames shaped by altitude and cold, they are raised slowly on the mountain terrain of the Serra do Alvão – a landscape of rugged peaks, deep valleys and severe winters that has produced a food culture of rare intensity. The result of that patience is meat of extraordinary character: rich in marbling, deeply flavoured, and unlike almost anything currently available to London diners. This is beef defined by origin, maturity and time.

Supplying the beef exclusively for this event is Carnes Irmãos Unidos, a family of butchers and farmers from Vila Pouca de Aguiar in Northern Portugal – a business whose name tells its own story. André, one of eleven brothers, oversees the herd every day from his home nearby, his nephew João already working alongside him. Built on values of integrity and continuity, the business carries forward with quiet conviction by the next generation. Their highly specialised Selection Range focuses entirely on mature native-breed cattle of exceptional provenance: an approach that prioritises depth of flavour and authenticity over speed or yield, maintaining natural habitats, quality feed and an uncompromising respect for every stage of the animal’s life. In a true first for the UK, they will export their prized Maronesa beef exclusively for this event – giving guests a single opportunity to experience one of Portugal’s most distinctive native breeds outside the country for the very first time.

Across five courses, the menu will move through different cuts and preparations – snacks, small plates, and a prime steak centrepiece that puts the Maronesa front and centre.

The Native Breed Series has its roots in a research trip in February to Trás-os-Montes, when Bar Douro founder Max Graham and Executive Chef Neuza Leal travelled through the region meeting producers and documenting the landscapes, traditions and food culture that continue to shape the restaurant’s approach to Portuguese cuisine. Time spent at the Carnes Irmãos Unidos farm – watching the animals stand composed in the pale mountain light, raised not for speed but for time – became the direct inspiration for the series. “The focus here is clear,” Max Graham wrote on returning. “To preserve and elevate Portugal’s native breeds.”

Future editions of the Native Breed Series will continue to spotlight different indigenous breeds, producers and regional food traditions – each one a direct line between the landscapes of Portugal and the table at London Bridge.