Macellaio RC Soho: Where Steak Comes With a Story
There are steak restaurants, and then there are places where the steak is only the beginning of the story. At Macellaio RC Soho, the meat comes with a philosophy: respect the animal, understand where it comes from and use as much of it as possible. It's an approach that feels particularly at home in Italy, where food has traditionally been about provenance, generosity and making something memorable from what is available.
Walk through the doors, and it feels less like arriving in Soho and more like stepping into an old traditional restaurant somewhere in Italy. The open kitchen sits to the right, with cuts of meat displayed alongside a charcoal grill that becomes the centrepiece. The front dining room has a more traditional Italian restaurant feel, while the back section, where we were seated, is more intimate, with booths and tables tucked into a darker, moodier setting. Downstairs, the table setting continues that traditional Italian aesthetic, while upstairs the palette becomes more neutral. Hanging circular lampshades with gold detailing, brass accents, distressed mirrors and an Art Deco-inspired indoor balcony give the restaurant a distinctly theatrical London edge.
There's even a dramatic display of all of the cuts as you step through the doors; an early indication that this is not a restaurant interested in hiding where its food comes from. Macellaio RC was founded by Roberto Genova in South Kensington in 2013, originally working with Fassona cattle from Piedmont. The restaurant now sources grass-fed beef from the Lake District, while also offering its Marango cut, sourced across three Italian regions including Tuscany. The meat is halal, and the emphasis remains firmly on the quality of the animal rather than dressing it up with unnecessary complication.
That philosophy starts to make sense before the steak even arrives. We began with an Omira, a Sicilian white wine that was dry, fragrant and fresh, with citrus, apple and pomegranate notes, alongside warm focaccia served with a dipping candle made from beef tallow and rosemary.
Then came the dish that perhaps best explains what Macellaio RC is trying to do: lard on toast.
The combination works surprisingly well. Crispy fried bread, salty prosciutto, the rich tallow, roughly textured walnut and a touch of sweet honey create a contrast of textures and flavours that makes what sounds like an extremely simple dish considerably more interesting. It's also a useful reminder that nose-to-tail cooking does not have to feel worthy or overly serious. It can be delicious.
The steak tartare continued the theme, made with Marango beef and available in three styles: Italian, Zaza or French. We opted for the Italian, which had a beautifully full texture and almost melted in the mouth, allowing the richness and quality of the beef to do most of the work.
Then came the main event: a Lake District rib eye, dry-aged for six weeks and served medium-rare. Presented on a silver platter beneath a lid, it arrived with a little theatre of its own before being carved and served. The grass-fed beef has the kind of marbling that allows the flavour of the meat to remain the focus, while the dry-ageing adds another layer of depth.
There's something satisfying about choosing your own cut and understanding where it has come from before it reaches the grill. That is essentially the Macellaio RC concept: the restaurant operates almost like an Italian macelleria, with the customer invited into the process rather than presented with a finished dish that could have come from anywhere.
And perhaps that is what makes the Soho outpost worth knowing about. It doesn't try to disguise its identity beneath contemporary restaurant language. The meat is on display, the grill is visible, the room feels unmistakably Italian, and the menu is built around sharing and choosing your cut.
The result is a restaurant that feels traditional without being old-fashioned, theatrical without becoming pretentious. In a part of London crowded with restaurants competing for attention, Macellaio RC's appeal is rather more straightforward: know your meat, respect the animal and cook it properly.
Macellaio RC Soho
Address: 39-45 Shaftesbury Ave, London W1D 6LA
For more information, visit HERE
Photography courtesy of Macellaio RC
Words by Jheanelle Feanny
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