Hawksmoor (restaurant)

Hawksmoor is a British steakhouse and cocktail bar chain. The original establishment is in Spitalfields, near to where the architect Nicholas Hawksmoor built Christ Church. Subsequently, there are five other restaurants in London: in Seven Dials, Air Street nearby Piccadilly Circus, Knightsbridge, Guildhall district of the City and Borough, near Borough Market. Hawksmoor also have two restaurants outside of London, Hawksmoor Manchester on Deansgate, near Spinningfields and Hawksmoor Edinburgh opened in 2018, just off St Andrews Square. Hawksmoor New York will be opening in 2021, in the recently restored Assembly Hall at the United Charities Building, on 22nd Street and Park Avenue South.

The first branch of Hawksmoor in Spitalfields.

Development

The restaurant was founded by Will Beckett and Huw Gott in 2006.[1] They had previously worked in bars and kitchens in London's East End and opened their new bar/restaurant on Commercial Street there.[1] Their plan was to offer high-quality, well-butchered beef, so they tasted a range of beef from all over the world, until coming to the conclusion that the best tasting steak was from the UK.[1]

Their second branch in Seven Dials was opened in 2010.[2] This was especially successful and the turnover of their company, Underdog, increased from £4 million to £11 million.[2]

In 2013, the founders sold a majority stake in the chain to the private equity group Graphite Capital — investors in other London businesses such as the Groucho Club and Wagamama.[3] The valuation was £35 million but the founders planned to continue to work and invest in the business.[3]

The company has been ranked three star Sunday Times Best Companies for eight consecutive years (in 2014 was the best restaurant company to work for), three star Sustainable Restaurant Association award as well as being involved in variety of charity projects (predominantly for Action Against Hunger, for which Hawksmoor has raised/donated over £1m).[4]

Reception

Giles Coren, reviewing the Seven Dials branch in The Times, praised it as "great, great steak. Best you’ll find anywhere. ... cooked medium rare at Hawksmoor's suggestion and had deep black charry cooking flavours and sweet pink fruity juices. The fillet was uncommonly flavourful, the sirloin unusually tender. There was no texture-taste compromise to consider, it was all good. All, all good".[5]

Branches and dishes

Awards

In February 2020, Hawksmoor was recognized at the Best Companies to Work For special awards 2020 in the "Innovation in Engagement" category.[6]

See also

References
  1. Andrew Webb (2012), "Steaks from Hawksmoor", Food Britannia, Random House, p. 400 et seq., ISBN 9781409022220
  2. Tom Vaughan (23 November 2012), "Hawksmoor: The return of the steakhouse", Caterer and Hotelkeeper, archived from the original on 24 June 2014
  3. Anna Reynolds (1 Aug 2013), "Macfarlanes, Olswang act on sale of steak in Hawksmoor restaurant chain", Legal Week
  4. "Ethics | The Hawksmoor". Hawksmoor. Retrieved 2015-10-23.
  5. Giles Coren (February 12, 2011), "Giles Coren reviews Hawksmoor Seven Dials, London WC2", The Times
  6. Times, The Sunday. "Best Companies to Work For special awards 2020". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
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