Selling just one cut of meat after which it is named, Flat Iron will comprise a 60-cover restaurant and basement cocktail bar situated on 17 Beak Street. With the steak priced at £10, owner Charlie Carroll holds a simple philosophy that high-quality meat should be available at affordable prices.
“I always thought it was a shame that the only way to guarantee an amazing steak was to pay eye-watering prices, and that was something I wanted to change,” said Carroll. “Our journey into beef has been a long one.
“One year, 38 suppliers and hundreds of samples later, we have formed relationships with a number of craft producers who share Flat Iron's passion for producing well aged, highly marbled, incredibly flavoursome beef.
"We are looking to build on what we did at the Owl and that starts with amazing producers. In the last month we have been to two locations in Ireland, North Yorkshire and Cornwall: all on the trail of the very best beef.”
Pop-up to permanent
The development of Flat Iron from pop-up to permanent has also included designing a new kitchen built around the focused menu, along with décor for both the restaurant and bar being put together by Ben Chapman a designer at Five Eight Zero, which continues to operate the Owl and Pussycat pub.
Carroll added: “At our pop-up we had to make do with the kit we had, but here we have been able to design a custom grill to our spec and create a purpose built cook line letting us make our dripping chips from scratch every day. It’s all part of our ongoing quest for an even better product.”
Flat Iron restaurant has also teamed up with acclaimed mixologists SoulShakers on a ‘top secret cocktail project’ for the new venue, planning to do something with cocktails that has ‘never been done in the UK before’. A tight and focused wine list will also be on hand, together with a selection of craft beers.
No reservations will be taken at Flat Iron in Beak Street, but the basement cocktail bar will be available to anybody waiting for a table.
Steak sensation
As Restaurant magazine reported earlier this year, the UK’s appetite for steakseems to be showing no signs of abating, with a proliferation of meat-focused restaurants opening across the capital and beyond in the coming months.
Although some chefs, such as Raymond Blancand Bruno Loubetare predicting a less meat-focused menu as the way forward, this year will see existing and new steak concepts open their doors in the capital and further afield.
Copenhagen-based steakhouse Mashis set to open its first UK operation on the former Titanic site in Piccadilly this month. Meanwhile, Hawksmoor secured its fourth restaurant,on Air Street in London’s West End and US operator The One Group is launched STK at London’s ME hotel in September. The movement is also taking hold in Manchester with restaurateur James Hitchen opening his second concept, Neighbourhood.
Property specialists Davis Coffer Lyons advised the landlord, Shaftesbury, on securing Flat Iron to their Carnaby Estate in Soho.