Overview
Got beef? The answer is yes at the latest addition to West End's West Village, but no one will be quarrelling. Rather, the just-opened Rich & Rare wants to fill Brisbanites' plates with steaks, steaks and more steaks — so much so that 15 different cuts are on the menu.
The focus: prime beef. The vibe: high end. The wild card? Upscale surf 'n' turf combinations are encouraged. Hailing from the Tassis Group, Rich & Rare also goes big on seafood, as the hospitality company's Fatcow Steak & Lobster did over at Eagle Street Pier before it was torn down for a yet-to-be-built new riverfront precinct.
Clearly, this crew isn't letting its expertise with steak and the ocean's finest go to waste. Announced back in July and open to diners from Friday, September 29, Rich & Rare serves up its favourite types of protein both indoors and out, seating 150 people. The new Manhattan-style joint joins the array of eateries settling in at the park-filled West Village precinct, including the Tassis Group's own Yamas Greek + Drink since 2022.
"We want diners to have the best of all worlds," explains restaurateur Michael Tassis about his beef-and-seafood spot, while also noting the venue's levelled-up but still casual approach.
"Top quality produce demanded a purpose-built kitchen and a luxurious but welcoming environment."
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.
In the kitchen, 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) — as well as Kadu Imbroisi (Cha Cha Char, Fatcow Steak & Lobster), who trained at Parisian culinary school École Ducasse, also hails from Brazil like De Souza Oliveira and has been nicknamed "the grill master".
Their menu unsurprisingly makes prime dry-aged steaks the star, using cuts from Australian farms as well as Japan. If you only try one, the wagyu tomahawk steak looks to be it; it's cooked over an open flame, rested to up its juice game, then carved and served at your table — although it does come with a hefty $190 per kilogram price. Eight other wagyu options are on the menu, alongside 180- and 250-gram eye fillets, a 400-gram scotch fillet, 600-gram rib on the bone and dry-aged sirloin, and a MB4+ t-bone.
For adding seafood to your beef, picks include Alaskan king crab legs, king prawns and whole lobsters. The latter from the tank is a highlight in general; however, the seafood range also spans oysters that are opened 'on order', caviar, seafood platters for two, raw kingfish and Mooloolaba swordfish steak on the bone — which Rich & Rare hopes will become one of its signature dishes.
Woodfired beets, steak tartare, beef tataki and seared scallops also sit among the entree choices; bone marrow mash, truffle mac 'n' cheese and rosemary-salted fries with the sides; and steak sandwiches, truffle mushroom spaghetti and lamb cutlets amid the mains.
To wash down your choice of protein, Rich & Rare's bar is packed local and international whisky, other spirits, plus wine from the cellar, including for after-work tipples, pre-dinner cocktails and late-night digestifs.
And yes, it's proving a busy time for Tassis, which already boasts not only Yamas but Massimo and the newly revamped Opa Bar + Mezze in its stable. The group's Hamptons-inspired seafood restaurant Fosh launched 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 Friday, September 29 — operating from 11am–late daily.
Images: Allo Creative and Markus Ravik.