Le Beefbar: luxury steakhouse taking the world by storm
The top-of-the-range butcher's counter, made of marble and brass © Beefbar
Born in Monte Carlo in 2005, Riccardo Giraudi’s concept is celebrating 20 years of success.
Just opened in New York in central Manhattan and soon in Tbilisi in Georgia, Beefbar already has 40 establishments around the world. The Giraudi group has been making American meats taste fabulous for decades, so the new opening was the natural choice. “My family has been exporting quality beef from the US to Europe for over 40 years, and Beefbar was created 20 years ago to showcase the incredible products that US farmers could deliver. Taking the brand back to the roots of its products is a huge honour,” Riccardo Giraudi told Monaco-Matin .
Advertising
To tell the whole story, Riccardo Giraudi, aka ‘the Beefboy’, first joined Giraudi Meats, the family business, in the 2000s and decided to become an importer/exporter of exclusive top-of-the-range meats. Sourcing quality meats, he soon became a leading importer of American Black Angus beef such as Creekstone Farms, and the biggest importer of Wagyu beef and Kobe-certified Japanese beef. He then had the brilliant idea of cooking and sublimating the products he imported at the Beefbar, a concept he created from scratch on the port of Fontvieille.
“The advantage of Monaco is that it is extremely cosmopolitan and at the time there was no competition. There were either family restaurants or Michelin-starred restaurants,” he told us in an interview in May 2022, explaining his vision of “luxury meat”: “it’s all about how the animal is fed. The more the animal is grain-fed, the more marbled the meat, so the more standardised the meat, the more tender it is and the more expensive it is. The secret of meat is consistency. In Europe, there are many breeds and crossbreeds. But for meat to be consistent, the animal must have the same genetics and must have eaten the same thing.”
The establishment offers a business lunch for those who would like to try it out at midday. “The core of each menu is always the same but the starter and the dish of the day vary at the Beefbar depending on what’s in season,” explains Riccardo Giraudi. “This means we can attract a local clientele, workers who want to have a quick sit-down lunch, at an affordable average price,” he says.
For beef lovers but not only
The Beefbar’s menu naturally includes entrecote, bavette, filet mignon and many other tasty cuts of meat, all carefully presented in a top-of-the-range butcher’s ‘counter’ made of marble and brass. But because Beefbar isn’t just for beef lovers, there are other options on offer including fresh fish and vegetables, such as lobster salad served with green beans, avocado, pomegranate and sesame. In fact, Beefbar has spawned several other brands to suit every palate: “Le petit Beefbar”, “Beefbar Asia”, “Leafbar”, “Beefbar Deli”, “Rumore Bar Americano” and “Beefbar Collab”.
These brands are gradually expanding around the world, just like Beefbar, which has been so successful that it now has premises in France, Luxembourg, Italy, the United Kingdom, Greece, Malta, Hungary, Cyprus, Georgia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Mexico, Brazil, the Caribbean, the United States, as mentioned above, and even at sea on certain cruises.
A recipe for success.
The Beefbar breaks with the traditional codes of steakhouses, with glamour both on the plate and in the surroundings. Riccardo Giraudi works with interior designers Humbert & Poyet who aptly define their style as ‘warm glamour’. Like him, the two professionals are brimming with creativity, and in 2021 they were named one of the top 100 designers by AD Magazine, and received the French Design 100 Label in 2022. In the Beefbar restaurants, they have created an intimate setting using dark, noble materials, offset by the many light fittings and large picture windows.
In 2023, the Beefbar was voted best meat restaurant by the London agency Upper Cut Media House. It won first place in the category “Best multi-premise meat restaurant,” ahead of over 32 establishments worldwide. “I am touched and honoured to receive such an award. After two decades of hard work to make Beefbar an international, global destination, my gratitude goes out to all the members of our team, on every continent, because they are the ones who have made it possible,” said the entrepreneur, chairman of the Giraudi Group, which runs many other restaurants that sure your tastebuds are probably familiar with: Song Qi, Moshi Moshi, Cantinetta Antinori and Tiny Thai.