A New Dining Chapter Unfolds Beneath Soho's Pink Elephants

A Theatrical Setting for Carnivorous Ritual

There is something about descending a staircase into a scarlet dining room that feels like entering a stage set mid-performance. At Broadwick Soho, where pink elephants cling to the façade and Martin Brudnizki's interiors blur the line between hotel and cabaret, that theatricality has always been part of the design brief. When the hotel opened three years ago on the corner of Broadwick and Berwick Streets, it arrived with a clear sense of character: bold, playful, unapologetically Soho. Now, one of its central acts is being rewritten.

This September, the subterranean space that once housed Italian restaurant Dear Jackie, along with its ground-floor sibling Bar Jackie, will be reimagined as Beefbar at Dear Jackie. The transformation marks the arrival of Riccardo Giraudi's Monaco-born steakhouse brand into the heart of one of London's most storied neighbourhoods, and its ascension as the group's UK flagship. For a hotel that has always leaned into drama, the move feels less like a departure and more like a natural evolution, a shift in tone rather than temperament.

At Global Chic Voyage, we have long observed how certain restaurants manage to carry a sense of place with them as they expand, embedding local inflection into a recognizable format without losing their original identity. Beefbar, which Giraudi founded in Monte Carlo in 2005, has done precisely that across Paris, Milan, Mykonos, New York, and now London. The formula is deceptively simple: prized cuts, glossy interiors, a touch of theatre, and an atmosphere that feels equally at home on the Riviera or in Midtown Manhattan. What makes the Soho iteration intriguing is not just the location, but the way the brand is adapting its language to suit a neighbourhood that has always resisted homogeneity.

The Riviera Comes to Soho

Giraudi has spoken about wanting the new London home to possess what he calls "real soul," a quality that can be elusive in the global steakhouse category, where slickness often edges out character. The partnership with Broadwick Soho offers something rarer: a canvas that already has personality. Managing director Joshua Gardner has described the hotel's ethos in terms that could double as a neighbourhood manifesto, noting that while the team does not take itself too seriously, every detail is fiercely considered. That balance, between irreverence and precision, is what makes Soho dining rooms endure.

The interiors for Beefbar at Dear Jackie will be bespoke, designed to honour the bones of the original space while introducing the polished, Riviera-inflected aesthetic that has become the brand's signature. A redesigned terrace will extend the dining experience beyond the subterranean rooms, offering a rare outdoor component in a part of London where alfresco tables are perpetually in demand. In a neighbourhood where lunch has a tendency to bleed into dinner and dinner into last orders, the flexibility of day-to-night dining is not merely convenient, it is essential.

A Menu That Travels and Settles

The menu will centre on the cuts that have defined Beefbar's reputation: Japanese Kobe, Australian Wagyu, and the house signature sauce that has followed the brand across continents. But the Soho location will also introduce dishes exclusive to London, a gesture that suggests the kitchen is interested in more than replication. Wagyu shepherd's pie and a truffle-laced Cordon Bleu signal a willingness to play with British references, filtering them through the lens of a brand that has always understood the value of spectacle.

What interests us here is not simply the novelty of a Wagyu shepherd's pie, though the dish will no doubt generate its share of social media attention. Rather, it is the way these London-only additions reflect a broader shift in how global restaurant brands approach new markets. The days of exporting a menu wholesale, with no concession to local palate or culinary history, are increasingly behind us. Today, the most successful expansions are those that acknowledge context, that allow a neighbourhood to shape the offering as much as the brand shapes the space.

Giraudi's comment about the freedom to be playful with the menu is telling. It suggests that Broadwick Soho, with its particular blend of glamour and irreverence, has given the team permission to experiment in ways that might feel out of place in a more conservative setting. Soho has always been a laboratory for that kind of risk-taking, a neighbourhood where innovation and excess coexist comfortably, and where diners are as interested in the story as they are in the steak.

The Broadwick Effect

Since its arrival in 2023, Broadwick Soho has occupied a particular niche in London's hospitality landscape. It is neither a classic grand hotel nor a boutique hideaway, but something in between: a property that wears its design credentials on its sleeve while maintaining an approachable, almost mischievous energy. The rooftop bar has become a fixture for sundowners, the pink elephant motifs have provided endless Instagram fodder, and the Brudnizki interiors have drawn the design-conscious crowd that Soho has always attracted.

The decision to bring in Beefbar speaks to a strategic recalibration, one that recognizes the enduring appeal of the steakhouse as a social anchor. In an era when dining trends shift with disorienting speed, the steakhouse remains a constant, a format that transcends fashion because it taps into something more primal. Beefbar's arrival also positions Broadwick Soho as a destination beyond its rooms, a place where non-guests will have reason to linger, dine, and return.

For Beefbar, the Soho flagship represents an opportunity to test the brand's adaptability in a market that is notoriously discerning. London diners, particularly those in the West End, have seen every iteration of the steakhouse concept, from old-guard institutions to modern grill rooms with open kitchens and charcoal ovens. To succeed here requires more than excellent beef; it demands atmosphere, narrative, and a sense that the restaurant understands the neighbourhood it has chosen to inhabit.

A Neighbourhood That Demands More

Soho has always been a place where restaurants must earn their place at the table. It is a neighbourhood with a long memory, where new openings are scrutinized not just for their food and service, but for their fit within a complex cultural ecosystem. The best Soho restaurants are those that contribute to the area's ongoing conversation, that add something to the streetscape rather than simply occupying it.

Beefbar at Dear Jackie will open its doors on 10 September 2026, and in doing so, it will join a dining scene that is as competitive as it is collaborative. The question is not whether the brand can deliver on its promise of prized cuts and Riviera glamour, those elements are already proven. The question is whether it can absorb the spirit of a neighbourhood that has always valued individuality over polish, character over perfection.

At Global Chic Voyage, we will be watching to see how the space evolves in its first months, how the menu adapts to the rhythms of Soho life, and whether the partnership between a Monaco-born steakhouse and a pink-elephant-adorned hotel can create something that feels both globally informed and locally rooted. If it succeeds, it will be because it understood that in Soho, the best performances are those that feel unrehearsed, even when every detail has been meticulously planned.