Thomas Straker is fairly blunt when it comes to restaurants: “A lot of places where the music’s really good, the food’s really shit.” An enfant terrible of the London dining scene, Straker aims for his food to be just as enticing as the service, ambiance, and soundtrack of the space. That combination is what the 37-year-old mediagenic chef (he’s got over 2 million Instagram and Tik Tok followers) refers to as “dinner plus.”
This is the philosophy behind Straker’s, his small but very popular Italian-leaning restaurant in London’s Notting Hill neighborhood. It took him years of working in other people’s kitchens to arrive at it. At the tony Dorchester, he learned the fundamentals of fine dining; at Dinner by Heston he became obsessed with science-driven cooking, courtesy of master chef Heston Blumenthal. At Casa Cruz, the West London hotspot (there’s also an outpost in Manhattan), he learned the inner workings of how to make a dining room thrum with energy—from the lighting to the seating chart.
This fall, he is bringing Straker’s to New York’s SoHo. 59 Grand Street is an address with a history to live up to: Until 2020, it housed Keith McNally’s beloved Lucky Strike, a sister restaurant to institutions like Balthazar, Minetta Tavern, and Pastis. (Though their relationship may seem contentious on the surface, Straker assures me the two unfiltered Brits are friends who like “to take the piss” out of each other.)
The restaurant has retained its wooden ceiling and floor, with an open kitchen, a marble bar, and a dining room in the back. There will also be white tablecloths and a high-end sound system—signs, Straker says, of Straker’s growing up. The menu will follow a familiar progression of small plates to main courses to dessert, designed so diners can let the evening unfold at a leisurely pace.
Ahead of the restaurant’s Oct. 10 opening, CULTURED spoke with the chef about why he chose New York, how he’s adapting Straker’s for the city, and his hopes of making it a neighborhood fixture.
When you first opened Straker’s in London, what were you trying to create?
I’d been working in restaurants since I was 18, so by the time I opened Straker’s, I’d had about 15 years of taking little bits and bobs from different experiences. When I first started, I worked at a big hotel called the Dorchester, which gave me a great foundation. I wasn’t really thinking too far ahead. I was taking it day to day, trying to improve my skill set.
When I saved up more money and was able to eat at different restaurants, I started thinking about the whole experience: What was attracting me to a particular restaurant? Why did I want to sit in that room with those people? I got obsessed with the food side and the technicality of cooking, so I went to work at Dinner by Heston, which had two Michelin stars at the time. It was all very technical cooking. But I feel like I lost sight of what food was about in terms of the experience around it.
What brought you back to that?
Then I went to work for Juan Santa Cruz at Casa Cruz. I learned a lot from him on the front-of-house side, in terms of creating a space that people want to spend time in. The men might want to eat steak, and the women might want steamed fish and a glass of white wine, but they all want to be in this sexy, comfortable environment. It’s about understanding what different people want from a night out and bringing those things together.
It made me look at food slightly differently: focusing on quality and simplicity in the cooking, with a great energy and a beautiful interior around it. I wanted Straker’s to be cool, energetic, comfortable, all those things. Often restaurants are cool but not comfortable, or they’re lacking in certain departments. I wanted really great service with a great energy. I don’t want the food to let down the atmosphere. A lot of places where the music’s really good, the food’s really shit.
The full package.
The full package, yeah. Where it feels a bit like “dinner plus.”
Why bring it to New York?
I feel like the energy of our concept is suited for the New York dining scene. A lot of our customers come from America, and they’d say, “Ah, this would fit so well in New York.” I was like, “Right, let’s go and have a look at it.” I’ve got an American passport. I was born in the States. I was going to have to use it or lose it.
I wanted to expand the restaurant’s horizons. The brand is bigger than just being in one city. I didn’t want to show up to Golborne Road every day, but I also didn’t necessarily want to open loads of places around the U.K. Also, the dining scene in America is just so hot. People are out consistently five days a week. In London, it’s difficult to get people to go out for dinner, let alone lunch and dinner, especially where we are in Notting Hill.
New York’s got that fast-paced energy that really suits the brand. It is incredibly dense. If you stand on a street corner, it’s a constant stream of people walking past. I hope it’s going to go well. Luckily, we’re launching with a reasonably good brand reputation, and we’ve got a good presence online. We’re able to spread the word through that.
What parts of Straker’s are nonnegotiable?
New York won’t be an exact copy, but it’s got the essence of the brand running through it. The open kitchen and bar are both on one side, creating that great energy. When you walk into the restaurant, I want you to walk straight into the bar, basically. You know, “I’ve arrived. I want a fucking martini, and I want to get going.”
Then there are the chefs in the open kitchen. There’s counter seating, which is always a good time, especially when you’ve got people dining on their own. It’s a great place for them to sit and chat with the chefs. I like being able to offer a place where people can enjoy themselves even on their own.
One thing we’ll have in New York that we don’t have in London is a nice dining room in the back. You go past the bar and the kitchen, walk up some stairs, and there’s banquette seating all the way around the room. It’s comfortable. I want to create comfort. We’ve still got green marble on the bar, but it’s a slightly different shade. The walls are quite neutral, and there’s great lighting.
It sounds like you’re making a few upgrades.
We had a slightly bigger budget for this project, so we bought nice bespoke speakers. We’ve thought about the music and the things customers interact with. We’re going to have tablecloths in the dining rooms. That’s all a sign of the brand growing up slightly. It’s been four or five years since I started planning the London restaurant. I’ve learned a lot in that time, and I’ve tried to apply those lessons here.
I want there to be Straker’s dotted around the place, so people have that reference point of quality, simplicity, vibe, music, and comfort. But the restaurants wouldn’t all be the same. If we ended up doing one in LA, it might be a little more laid-back. You’ve got to build it to suit the city.
In the SoHo space, we kept the old wooden ceiling and floor to preserve some of its character. We didn’t really fuck around with the outside too much. We’ve inherited a pretty serious space, so we’ve got to treat it with a lot of respect.
How different will the menu be?
I’ve kept a similar menu layout because it reflects how I think the evening should go. That’s something we really worked on: a good snack menu, then really good starters, followed by pastas, meat, fish, and sides. I want you to be eating your way through the menu over the evening. You have a couple of cocktails with good snacks, then go into the main courses.
It’s the same style, but tailored to the market, similar to the interiors. What’s available locally? Who are the suppliers? What’s good? Here in the U.K., we’ve got a bit more of an emphasis on game, probably less so in America. We’ve got to lean into very good raw fish. The sushi scene is pretty big in the U.S. People are quite big beef and chicken eaters in America. You’ve got to be really strong in that department, so I’ve gone and tasted a shitload of different beef.
You’re taking over Lucky Strike’s old space. Do you want it to become that kind of neighborhood place, with regulars and late nights?
Definitely. I don’t want it to be a nightclub, but I want it to be the kind of place where you come at 8 or 9 and can potentially sit at your table for the whole evening. Obviously, we’d like to turn some tables, but there’s something important about regulars being able to come and have a long, long dinner.
Are you a Keith McNally fan?
Absolutely. Big fan. Keith’s become a friend, and he’ll remain a friend. I like how honest he is. I also like to be a touch contentious sometimes, so we get on.
Will you be cooking?
Yes, especially in the early days. I’ll be in the kitchen for a significant period of time. Obviously, there’s only one of me, so I’m splitting my time between London, the family, and New York. There’s going to be a point where you’ve got to rely on the team. I’m not going to say, “Yes, I’m going to be there every single day for the next two years.” That’s just not going to be the case, which is what I did in London.
But I’ve got to be there to hammer home what the brand is about, make sure we have the right teams, and support them as much as possible. I need to share as much of my vision and knowledge as I can, so they feel confident enough to apply it themselves. I’ve barely been in the kitchen this year in London because we’ve got a great team, and people feel they can execute the vision well. That’s the main thing. It’s the art of delegation, and creating a culture of respect where people feel confident doing what you’ve asked them to do.
What does New York’s restaurant scene get right, and where do you see room to do things differently?
I’m a semi-novice in this department because I haven’t spent a really extended period of my life there. I can’t necessarily comment from a high-level perspective. But New York customers are very discerning. It won’t be busy if it’s shit. It’ll be busy if it’s really good.
I like the variety. You can eat very different kinds of food at a very high level, whether it’s super expensive or not. The quality is there. Service can be a bit weird because of how tips are divided and who’s responsible for what. Sometimes, if you ask someone for something, they go, “Let me just grab you your server.” It’s like, “Just get me a fucking glass of water, please.” Everyone should be trained enough to handle those basics rather than always deferring to someone else.
I know tipping can make it quite competitive. People can make a lot of money, so they worry that if their table isn’t being looked after properly, the tip won’t be as big. But New York restaurants do loads of things right. Service is pretty fucking good for that reason as well, because people are getting paid properly.
What are some of your favorite places to eat in New York?
I like Theodora. I like the Four Horsemen. I love Altro Paradiso for lunch. I had a good breakfast burrito at Croft Alley the other day, and a very good Coca-Cola on crushed ice—you know, that kind of stuff. I don’t always need to go out for a fancy meal. The pain au chocolat at Birley Bakery is amazing, and the pastries at La Cabra are banging.
Your deathbed meal?
So tricky. I’d have to say a very good lasagna.
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