Jon Yantin and Adrian Hartley, the entrepreneurs resurrecting the Chicago Rib Shack format, are also to launch a new restaurant concept called Stake.
The duo – both former directors at Urbium company – have formed a new company called CRS Leisure.
The company, whose chairman is Robert Cohen, former managing director of Urbium and ex-operations director of My Kinda Town, has raised £3m in funding from several investors including private individuals at Goldman Sachs and property entrepreneur Anthony Lyons to roll out the brand.
Yantin and Hartley, former marketing director and operations director respectively at Urbium, which is now known as Novus Leisure, plan to open their first Stake outlet, a premium-casual dining venture serving primarily red meat, by the end of the year.
The partners will initially relaunch the iconic Chicago Rib Shack in Knightsbridge at the end of April as their flagship venue, after acquiring the intellectual property rights to the name.
Yantin told M&C Report that the group had decided to create a secondary brand which fitted into the same ethos as Chicago Rib Shack, but that could also be rolled out as a small chain.
He said that CRS was looking for 6,000sq ft sites in new developments with a large office concentration, such as the Southbank or the Brunswick Centre in Holborn.
Stake would consist of a 100 to 150-cover restaurant combined with a destination cocktail bar, serving burgers and steaks, with a focus on provenance, with an anticipated average spend per head of between £15 and £20.
The group said that it would concentrate on expanding the venture in London first, with space to open between12 and 15 restaurants in the capital, before looking at sites in tertiary towns and abroad.
Once the first few Stake outlets are up and running, Yantin said that the group would then consider opening a second Chicago Rib Shack located outside of London.
