Manchester is about to get its most unusual dining venue to date – a legendary French restaurant where there is NO menu, because they only serve one dish!
Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecote, which started life as a Parisian bistro 52 years ago, is famed for serving guests only one dining option – a salad for starter and then main course of steak and chips – at a fixed price of £21.
The venue is also renowned for its “no reservation” policy. You just turn up and hope for the best of getting a seat.
I can reveal the acclaimed bistro is to open in Manchester in April, after bosses snapped up the former Armani store at the top of King Street. It will be only its fifth venture worldwide, with an eaterie in New York and two in London alongside the original Parisian flagship. Work has now begun on the site.
The venue will be just down the road from the new Jamie’s Italian restaurant, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s first venture in the city, which is due to open to the public on February 20.
The news makes the top end of King Street a burgeoning foodie quarter of the city, with the two new eateries to sit close to the site of Rio Ferdinand’s Italian restaurant Rosso, the Browns brasserie which launched last year, and the award-winning Room restaurant.
The original Le Relais restaurant was launched in Paris 52 years ago by Monsieur Gineste de Saurs, before they spread to New York, London and, now, Manchester.
A spokeswoman for the venue says: “The restaurant boasts a unique dining experience in that there is no menu and a no reservations policy. Diners are invited to come and enjoy one simple dish – a green salad starter tossed with mustard vinaigrette and sprinkled with walnuts, followed by the restaurant’s signature steak-frites, with an accompanying secret sauce. The steak, which is cooked blue/rare/medium or well done, is brought to the table in two stages (with one half
held back to keep it warm) so it can be enjoyed at its best and is served with more freshly-prepared frites, hand-chipped in-house to the identical dimensions as those in Paris.”
For those diners partial to a spot of afters, I’m pleased to report there is a full dessert list as well as cheese available following your steak.
The venue also prides itself on speedy dining for those customers on pressing lunchtime deadlines.
Managing director Mourad Dine says: “We are excited to be opening our latest restaurant in Manchester and we hope that Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecote will be just as popular here as it has been in Paris, London and New York.
“It’s a unique dining experience with a simple formula and an informal atmosphere, whether it’s a quick business lunch, a family get together or a first date. Steak-frites is the most popular dish in the world and we are delighted to be bringing it to Manchester!”
Vegetarians, I’d hazard a guess, need not rush to join the queue for a table...
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DONT LIKE IT ITS TO DEAR.
Food doesn't sound that great but the waitress looks good.
Salad, bit of meat and chips £21
Salad, big mac and chips £5
£21 seems a bit steep for steak and chips. Does it include dessert?
sounds good to me!
Good luck with charging £21. My feeling is it won't last long or be nearly as successful as they hope on an ongoing basis. It's my favourite food, but someone else would have to be paying to ever step foot in there, unless they offer special deals on certain days / times, or sign up to a 241 dining club. This is Manchester, a small northern city, not London, Paris or New York and people who don't understand that, come here and eventually fail. There's a warped view that we're all cosmopolitan and all have enough money to be frivolous with it on things like this and it's just not the daily reality for most people and this is the kind of place that should be attracting everyone.
I like the concept, but the pricing sucks.
Sorry, but £21 for a decent steak (chips & salad) is about right. Next time you'e in the supermarket, look how much you'll pay for an aged sirloin, about £6 or £7 at Sainsbury's I think. Times that by three - how very the smallest mark-ups are calculated in a restaurant - and it looks OK to me. Mind you, the proof is in the eating, I'll give it a go when it opens
Why the hell would i pay £21 for steak and chips when i can get the same for a tenner in the local pub! Well, I suppose its true when people say there is '1 born every minute'.........
Do they offer a vegetarian alternative?
The waitress looks tastier than the food sounds.
Sounds boring and the vegetarians in the family have to stay at home.....??!! Le Petit Blanc nearby was great, but did not stand the test of time and that had a varied menu!!