The restaurant will serve its signature Italian meat and fish, including Fassona beef and Sicilian tuna, alongside ciccheti, mountain cheese and artisan bread. The restaurant says it will remain true to its mantra to serve “‘incredible Italian food, sourced with respect, prepared with love and expertly cooked’.
The restaurant will join a growing line up of restaurants on Store Street, curated by Bedford Estates. Other nearby operators include Store Street Espresso coffee; The Life Goddess Greek restaurant; Olivelli’s café; and KOOX UK’s grab’n’go restaurant which serves dishes created by well-respected chefs.
Formerly the Duke of Bedford’s petrol station in the 1920s, the site of the new restaurant is a historical building, located between Tottenham Court Road and Russell Square.
“I fell in love with this venue and the Bloomsbury area at first sight,” says Macellaio RC owner Roberto Costa.
“For me it’s an honour to be able to raise the curtain of our theatre in such a historical venue. As Italian artisans, we love the history behind this incredible building, one of the biggest petrol station in the 1920’s, and we want to show it respect so it gives us the right motivation to do our very best.”
Founded in South Kensington in 2012, Macellaio is known for being dedicated to in-house butchery and serves offal such as heart and tripe at its South Kensington and Battersea restaurants. Its Bankside restaurant, which opened in 2016, is dedicated to pizza, and its Exmouth Market site that launched a year later has a menu that also offers Sicilian tuna.
Earlier this year, Costa launched a rather different restaurant, Ardiciocca in Fulham, which prides itself on being free of gluten, dairy and sugar. Although it is not a vegan or vegetarian restaurant, it does not serve the steak that Costa’s restaurants are famed for.