Last week I was lucky enough to attend a special Signature event at McDonald’s on Boundary Road in Norwich. Husb and L were especially pleased they had been invited along as well. We were there alongside some lucky competition winners to find out all about the new Signature Collection of burgers and McDonald’s collaboration with Julien Macdonald OBE.
Back in August McDonald’s UK announced they were pairing up with fashion industry icon, Julien Macdonald OBE, to unveil his interpretation of a luxe burger box for the McDonald’s Signature Collection, their popular range of gourmet burgers.
Julien Macdonald OBE was commissioned to bring his undeniably glamorous aesthetic, to combine fashion and food’s finest. Julien’s unique red carpet gowns and embellished styles have cemented him as a go-to brand for A-list international talent who are often praised for their stylish choices. His creation for The Signature Collection is the embodiment of pure luxury and features embellishment and bespoke digital print, along with McDonald’s iconic Golden Arches.
“I drew inspiration from my fashion creations and iconic embellished red carpet dresses. This was translated into a gold baroque crystal encrusted box, which is the perfect packaging for the luxury McDonald’s Signature Collection burger,” commented Julien.
The Julien Macdonald boxes are a limited run of 1,000 and only available at a series of McDonald’s showcase events around the UK like the one we went to. One special and very sparkly box, embellished by Julien himself, is going to be auctioned off and the proceeds will go to the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). This very special box is also on tour and we all got to have a good look and get our pictures taken with it. It really is very sparkly.
The Signature Collection was designed for McDonald’s by the Chefs Council, led by Duncan Cruttenden, McDonald’s UK Director of Food Development. The Council is responsible for food development and flavour and is made up of chefs and international food specialists who have worked in Michelin Star restaurants and cooked for royalty. The three burgers have the thickest McDonald’s patty of any McDonald’s burger in the world, and are made with 100% British and Irish beef. The Classic, The Spicy and The BBQ are all crafted using quality ingredients, freshly prepared from the moment of order and served in stylish black packaging.
Now being vegetarian, these all meat delights didn’t appeal to me, and L quite frankly wasn’t interested in anything that wasn’t a fish finger happy meal or a strawberry milkshake, he made this very clear to anyone who would listen, embarrassing! Husb, however, was happy to take on the challenge trying both the Classic and the BBQ burgers. Yes, he ate two burgers for the cause, how gallant.
He was very impressed. As he put it they were restaurant quality at a fast food price. So quite frankly why would you go elsewhere. I know he will be going for one of these extra thick Signature Burgers whenever we eat at McDonald’s now.
After we had finished eating and had a good look at the special Julien Box we all got to have our pictures taken with that oh so sparkly box on a throne and have a chat with some of the staff and the franchise owner. We had such a fun night and I’m so pleased we were invited along to share the evening with the competition winners. It was just a great family event and everyone had a lovely time. We also all got to leave with one of the special run of 1000 Julien Macdonald boxes, not so blingy as the real deal but still gorgeous and each containing a very special McDonald’s pin badge.
The Signature Collection will be available in over 900 McDonald’s restaurants across the UK by the end of the year. Go to www.mcdonalds.co.uk/signaturecollection to find your nearest local restaurant.
Disclosure – we were invited as guests to the event. All opinions are my own.
