Overview
When Eagle Street Pier was torn down, making way for a yet-to-be-built new riverfront precinct, Fatcow Steak & Lobster was forced shut up shop. The Tassis Group isn't letting its expertise with beef and the ocean's finest go to waste, however. Next stop: Rich & Rare, which'll open in West End this spring to serve up plenty of high-end steak and seafood.
Sprawling both indoors and out, seating 150 people and due to welcome in patrons from September, then new Manhattan-style joint will make West Village its home, joining the array of eateries settling in at the park-filled precinct. Indeed, the hospitality crew behind Rich & Rare know the place well, given that Tassis also runs Yamas Greek + Drink. That eatery launched in 2022, giving the Boundary Street site an excuse to tuck into oysters with ouzo, lamb and chicken souvla, and cotton candy-topped spritzes — plus lobster from the tank.
"Having witnessed the way West End has wholeheartedly embraced of Yamas, the opportunity to establish another venue in the illustrious West Village precinct is nothing short of a dream," said restaurateur Michael Tassis, announcing Rich & Rare.
Lobster is a highlight at his new venue, too, again from the tank. Also set to grace the seafood menu: oysters that'll be opened 'on order', plus Mooloolaba swordfish steak on the bone, which Rich & Rare hopes will become one of its signature dishes.
Beef-wise, prime dry-aged steaks will star across the menu, with cuts hailing from Australian farms. If you only try one, the tomahawk steak looks to be it — it'll be cooked over an open flame, then rested to up its juice game, then carved and served at your table.
To wash down your choice of protein, Rich & Rare's bar will go heavy on local and international whisky, wine and spirits, including for after-work tipples, pre-dinner cocktails and late-night digestifs.
Tassis has assembled a culinary team led by Cameron Croad, who was most recently General Manager at Spicers Hidden Vale, plus Head Chef Felipe De Souza Oliveira (Urbane, Greca) guiding the kitchen crew.
The look and feel: sleek and sophisticated, with both a cylindrical glass walk-in dry-aging room and a temperature-controlled walk-in cellar greeting patrons as they arrive, plus manicured gardens.
And yes, it's proving a big time for Tassis, which already boasts not only Yamas but Opa Bar + Mezze and Massimo in its stable. The group's Hamptons-inspired seafood restaurant Fosh is to open at Portside Wharf in August, and overwater restaurant and bar Bombora, plus landing cafe Mulga Bill's will be part of Kangaroo Point's new green bridge in 2024.
Find Rich & Rare at West Village, 97 Boundary Street, West End, from sometime in September 2023 — we'll update you with an exact launch date when one is announced.
Images: Allo Creative & Markus Ravik / Clui Design.