An exciting new art venue and steak restaurant is set to open in Bristol’s Harbourside area this Autumn, bringing more than 20 jobs to the city.
Steak of the Art will cater for around 100 people, serving locally sourced steaks alongside an art gallery that will showcase and sell quality affordable art and hold artistic exhibitions and events.
It is a new concept based on the simple steak restaurants of Paris and London but set within an artistically inspired environment that one might find in chic Barcelona. The new restaurant will occupy the 4,000 square feet former marketing suite and offices of Crest Nicholson at Harbourside and will be converted during the summer.
Steak of the Art is the brainchild of classically trained chef and entrepreneur Steve Bowen of Knutsford, Cheshire, who has chosen to return to the West Country where his family has lived in Bristol for the past 35 years.
Steve, who studied at Leith’s School of Food and Wine in London, said: “The idea is to have reasonably-priced and simple but delicious food served in a place that is exciting to dine in. Although we are majoring on steaks we are equally enthusiastic about the other meat, poultry and fish we intend to serve.”
Steve has a passion for good food and wine and invests a great deal of time in sourcing good quality supplies.
He said: “We insist on the best and include produce from Warson’s Farm in Devon, Warren’s Butchers in Launceston and Fish for Thought from Bodmin in Cornwall. They will play a big part in ensuring that all our main ingredients have good provenance and amazing quality. We are also engaging the Bristol Beer Factory to source some of our drink products.
“The art will be on display in a gallery, which people can visit without going into the restaurant. People will be able to buy the art but we also expect to have some exciting exhibitions, displays and events.
“We chose Bristol because it has a fantastic reputation for its art scene and it is a place where people appreciate good food in an unpretentious way. We have an art gallery in Cheshire but we wanted somewhere to combine the art and food concepts in this way and Bristol just ticked all the boxes.”
If the concept is successful the aim is to open other Steak of the Art restaurants at selected venues across the UK.
Work has just started to convert the former offices into the restaurant. Plans are being drawn up for the feature bar, which will greet visitors to the venue. For those people who just want to visit the art gallery or enjoy a quiet drink, some lighter bites will be available.
Recruitment has already started with a restaurant manager and head chef set to be appointed within the next few weeks.
You can follow Steak of the Art on Twitter @SteakArtBristol and a website will be launched with an opening date later in the summer.
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