Thomas Straker, the chef, earlier this month. Photo: Getty Images
Hi there. We’ve got an interview with Thomas Straker, the viral London chef who’s not only opening his Soho restaurant next week, but also rolling out his own line of butter (of course) at Whole Foods nationwide. I’ve also written a bit about the cooking at Cafe Charmant after visiting the West Village spot that’s been open for about two weeks now.
Also: I’m really excited for Eater’s Bang Bang dinner series that brings together two standout New York restaurants, Rolo’s and Chambers, for a one-night-only event hosted at Rolo’s in Ridgewood on Wednesday, September 30. The two spots will share a kitchen for an evening of back-to-back menus, giving diners a chance to try dishes from both. Tickets are still available. I’d love to meet you in person. — Melissa McCart, lead editor, Northeast
Thomas Straker, the London-based celebrity chef with more than two million followers on both Instagram and TikTok, is known for viral cooking videos, a cookbook, and an almost-evangelical enthusiasm for butter. Now he’s bringing his cooking to Straker’s, at 59 Grand Street, at West Broadway, in Soho, taking over the former Lucky Strike space, with the restaurant set to open next week.
The New York opening also lands alongside a major U.S. expansion for Straker’s butter business: His British butter is headed to Whole Foods stores around the country, and he says the company recently shipped 100 tons of it to New Jersey. Ahead of the opening, I spoke with Straker about why he chose New York, what he’s bringing over from London, and the year-delayed, roughly $2 million-over-budget transformation of Lucky Strike. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Thomas Straker: The dining scene here is completely different. People live outside of their apartments in New York — they’re out having breakfast, lunch, dinner — whereas in London there’s a lot more eating at home. People might eat out twice a week there; here, you end up eating out all the time. The market is so strong. If you do something that has an appeal, you can almost guarantee you’re going to be busy.
And I have a U.S. passport. I was born in Washington, D.C., so I thought, I’m either going to use it or lose it. I wanted to explore how to build the brand abroad. I didn’t want to open more of the same restaurants in London, and I didn’t really fancy any other cities in the U.K. So I thought, why not? I’m American.
Straker: The menu structure is going to remain pretty much the same, almost unchanged. It’s more about piecing together what you can get here. I’d like to stick to fish caught on this coast — instead of sea bass, using striped bass, maybe Maine lobster. I went to some great dairy farms in Connecticut. I think you can find really good products if you look well.
We’re also shipping our butter out. We have a butter brand, and we’re shipping it to Whole Foods across America. We just shipped 100 tons of butter into New Jersey, and it launches [soon].
Straker: First, it’s British. It comes from grass-fed, very well-looked-after cows, and we make it traditionally — it’s all churned traditionally. We have very rich grasses in the U.K., so the milk is fantastic for making dairy products. We’re going to use our own British butter at the restaurant.
My ethos is always: How can I take something and do the least to it to make it exceptional? I don’t want to manipulate things too much. I tell the chefs they need to question everything on the plate — what they’re putting on, what they’re taking away, why it’s there, and what they can do to refine it.
Straker: I’ve got this mussel flatbread on the menu in London. It’s a 48-hour cold-ferment dough, basically like a mini pizza. We cook down mussels in wine, reduce the stock, make a chile butter with it, chop mussels through it, add whole mussels, and bake it in the wood oven.
I wanted to create a fresh bread-and-butter course that was hot and that you could eat with a couple of drinks. It’s the one thing we’re definitely bringing over from London. It’s been on the menu since we opened, and I can guarantee it’ll still be there in 10 years if we’re lucky enough to be there.
Straker: We’ve hired everyone here. I brought a couple of people over in support roles — someone who does our social media, one of the managers for a couple of weeks, and the chef from London will come over to observe.
But the only way it works is if you create the culture here. We’ve got a great team, a lovely chef and a very good GM. We know the formula; we just have to apply it here without changing it too much.
Straker: A guy called Luka Coyne. He’s Australian. I’ve actually got three Australians in my top team.
I wanted people who are up for putting the work in. Opening a restaurant isn’t easy. We’ve had delays, and sometimes you have to put in a few extra hard yards. I want people who want to make it a success and feel passionate about the business.
Straker: The space has got an amazing energy. As soon as I walked in there, I knew — I thought, right, I’ve got to take this. It took probably six months to do the deal, and I signed the lease in April last year.
We knocked out the kitchen and put in an open kitchen and an open bar. The back dining room is sexy and comfortable. It’s sophisticated but casual. Post Company did the interiors, and I gave them a lot of direction about how the London restaurant looks, while also wanting nods to Lucky Strike.
The build has been 12 months delayed and about $2 million over budget, but I think we’ve done a fantastic job.
Straker: We’ve put together a really strong wine list, with lots of lovely Champagnes — you can drink Krug by the glass — and there’s an interesting English sparkling wine as well.
The GM has built a really good team of people who are passionate about their jobs and really care. It’s important that the team here feels ownership over the restaurant.
The razor clams at Cafe Charmant. Photo: Melissa McCart
I went to Cafe Charmant on Wednesday, during roughly its second week open, and here’s the short version: I really like the cooking.
The new West Village French brasserie comes from Eugene Remm, Tilman Fertitta, and Catch Hospitality Group, which has been on an opening tear with the Corner Store, the Eighty Six, and Or’esh. Of those, Cafe Charmant may be the one I’m most inclined to become a regular.
The room helps. Rockwell Group designed it, and it’s handsome without feeling like a theme-park version of a French restaurant. The crowd is a little more sport-coat, guy-named-Chaz than my preferred scene. But the food made me want to go back.
Chef Jake Tyler Brodsky worked under the late James Kent during his Eleven Madison Park years and spent the past seven years cooking at Palm Heights in the Cayman Islands. That influence shows up in the tropical ingredients and Caribbean touches layered into the brasserie menu.
The Tuna Charmant is the sort of thing I’d happily eat at the bar: tuna belly with Nardello pepper, Castelvetrano olive, saffron aioli, and chips for dipping. Do not miss the Polynesian shrimp: Presented in a squash blossom, it’s crispy, savory, and sweet with a hint of tropical that feels unique: It is delicious. As linguine with clams would be my go-to last meal, I really liked the razor clam spaghetti ($29), with vinho verde, parsley, and green chile. I’ll talk more about the food in an upcoming dining report, but wanted to talk about the restaurant here first.
I also liked the drinks: Bar manager Sophie McGale poured a Rob Roy served with a small carafe surrounded by pebble ice. There was also a photogenic cucumber sour (my favorite), and a bright pink Garibaldi. Make note of Cafe Charmant on your Eater app list of places you want to visit.
Dining and Cooking