Scott Crawford’s new steakhouse seamlessly blends the traditional and edgy.
Renowned chef/restaurateur Scott Crawford’s upcoming Crawford Brothers Steakhouse in Fenton isn’t just a nod to the nostalgia of steakhouses—it’s a redemption story for him and his brother. Growing up, the term “Crawford brothers” didn’t have the most positive connotation, he says. “We were trouble.”
Now, when the restaurant opens as soon as December, the name will showcase just how far the duo has come after facing adversity. “It’s fun to honor my family with the name of these restaurants—like Crawford and Son and Jolie—and Crawford Brothers is a nod to the nostalgia of where we ate as kids,” Crawford adds.
In addition to being an homage to special-occasion steak-dinner memories, the local celeb chef says he wants to do a steakhouse because it’s a tried-and-true model he can put his own spin on. Taking influence from hot spots like NYC’s 4 Charles Prime Rib and Chicago’s RPM Steak, his unique rendition will boast a classic foundation with a super-design-forward aesthetic that’s at once both edgy and mod yet warm.
“The theme was to put everything on display,” says Crawford, who collabed on the design with Liezl Pacult of Maurer Architecture, “from our vintage spirits to our wine to the meat to the kitchen—and do it in a way that is still refined and inviting, but with modern finishes. As we’re designing, we’re thinking of how we’re surprising and delighting people—and exceeding expectations.”
Those wow-factor details include a floor-to-ceiling “glass curtain,” or wall, on one side of the restaurant that’s visible from the street; an on-display wine library featuring wood-carved “lockers;” a prominent oval-shaped cocktail bar; and custom commissioned artwork by Thomas Sayre. Not to mention visibility from the street into the professional kitchen, from the main dining room into the dry-aging room, and from the semiprivate dining room into the kitchen.
“Just like all of our restaurants, [Crawford Brothers Steakhouse] will stand out with the attention to detail. And that’s across the board, from the design to the beef program to the cooking suite that’s visible from basically all sides to the bar program, wine program and level of service.” —Scott Crawford
Leaning more traditional, everything on the menu will be served a la carte—but with a Crawford spin, natch. Think aged and nonaged steaks, wagyu by the ounce from three different countries, a seafood tower, raw oysters, chilled crudos, short ribs, and creative sides. To pair, beverage manager Jordan Joseph is heading the cocktail program, featuring a robust wine list to boot.
Also in Crawford fashion—and a la traditional steakhouses—expect primo service. “Our goal for service is to make it fun, but also a very elevated experience,” he says, adding: “Just like all of our restaurants, [Crawford Brothers Steakhouse] will stand out with the attention to detail—and that’s across the board.” And, so, another Crawford treasure is born. crawfordbrotherssteakhouse.com
Scott Crawford’s new concept at RDU has taken off.
Scott Crawford’s latest restaurant has opened at RDU, but it won’t feel like you’re at the airport at all. And, odds are, you might find yourself hoping for a delay to experience it.
Tailored to travelers while boasting the same top-notch hospitality for which Crawford’s restaurants are known (think Crawford and Son’s James Beard nod for Outstanding Hospitality!), Crawford’s Genuine—located in Terminal 2—will offer “that classic North Carolina dining experience, just like you would expect at one of our restaurants,” says the namesake chef. “We’ve put a lot of effort into the design, for instance, even creating an ‘outdoor patio.’”
The menu is also designed with travelers in mind, catering both to those who have time to waste between layovers and those hurrying to their gate.
“I’m not sure anyone realizes how much I love this type of casual-but-upscale bar and grill food,” he adds. “I’m really excited about our menu and what we’ll be offering at Crawford’s Genuine. It’s fun, delicious food, and has all the hallmarks of Crawford Hospitality’s attention to detail and refinement.”
Catering to an all-day affair, breakfast, lunch and dinner items are on offer, running the gamut from morning selects like sweet and savory bowls (think short rib and eggs, baked French toast, and yogurt with granola) to lunch/dinner fare like smoked chicken wings, crispy shrimp lettuce wraps, mushroom cavatelli and a classic smash burger, alongside additional apps, salads, sandwiches and entrees—to pair with cocktails, beer and wine.
And for victims of ridiculous connection times, Crawford’s Genuine will also have a dedicated grab-and-go case of prepared foods, as well as a dedicated counter for ordering from the to-go menu, which includes items like smoked trout dip, kale Caesar and a chicken salad sandwich.
“This new venture means a lot to our company and community,” emphasizes Crawford. “I’m especially thankful we have found a partner like Grove Bay Concessions for this project. We’re excited to reach a broader audience with our cooking and our brand. It’s an incredible opportunity to introduce visitors and residents to Crawford Hospitality. It’s also exciting—and an honor—for us to be elevating the food, beverage and overall hospitality at RDU Airport.”
Scott Crawford’s Brodeto to bow at Raleigh Iron Works in December.
It was during a trip to Croatia in 2018 Scott Crawford enjoyed a particularly tasty traditional brodeto (otherwise known as fish soup) that he thought, “I could just do a whole restaurant about this type of [flavor] profile.” And, now, that serendipitous idea will become a reality as his resto of the same name is anticipated to open at Raleigh Iron Works before the end of the year.
First announced late last year, Brodeto will pay homage to the cuisine of the Adriatic portion of the Mediterranean—specifically Southern Italy and Croatia—via lighter coastal Italian food, with a strong focus on seafood. Rustic, humble and memorable are just a few words Crawford uses to describe the fare.
“We fell in love with those flavor profiles, so we’re gonna cook them the way we cook here,” says Crawford, who’s spent the last four years traveling to the region—most recently exploring 16 cities in Italy alone. “I’m not from Italy; I’m not trying to honor my family with this as I was with my other businesses. I’m not pretending to be this guy who trained in Italy or anything like that. This is very authentic in that we love this concept—we love the feeling that we got there and we want to recreate that.”
Brodeto will, of course, be a highlight of the menu, and rotate seasonally with a heavier broth in the colder months and a lighter one in summertime. Additional menu highlights include crudo, housemade pastas (orecchiette, cavatelli and lightly stuffed pastas, to name a few styles) and breads (namely a Croatian bread, a crusty Italian bread and a great focaccia). Not to mention wood-fired meats, vegetables and seafood on a Beech wood-fired hearth rack system—similar to how food is prepared in Croatia—with seafood being sourced both locally and from the Mediterranean.
There will also be a chef’s table-like experience where diners can order dishes not found on the restaurant menu, like a seafood or crudo tower. “People should anticipate what they experience at Crawford and Son and Jolie,” Crawford emphasizes, “where you can expect a little unexpected—some nice surprises. … But also this is very grounded and based in a tried-and-true style of cooking. I think finding that balance is where we really have a lot of fun as a team.”
The simple yet masterfully balanced cocktail program by Beverage Manager Jordan Joseph will also place a large focus on coastal flavors, amari and herbal liqueurs, coal-grilled fruits and vegetables, infused salts, and bitters—not to mention a list of coastal and mainland wines from Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and throughout the Adriatic.
“Travel, to me, is such a big part of being inspired—and I was inspired there to want to cook that food and bring that experience to people in our community,” says Crawford. “The region has so much to offer and show, and the flavor combinations are limitless between linking the best of what each territory can offer.” And, so, a worldly trip for the senses awaits. brodeto.com
Renowned local chef and restaurateur Scott Crawford is joining the lineup at Raleigh Iron Works
Just when you thought Raleigh Iron Works couldn’t get any cooler—Scott Crawford enters the mix with his newest restaurant, Brodeto. Slated to open in the highly anticipated project’s Bowtruss Building in 2023, the concept will introduce a unique blend of Italian and Croatian cuisine to Raleigh—and will be Crawford’s biggest restaurant yet.
Born from the renowned restaurateur’s first visit to Croatia with wife Jessica a few years ago—and so named for a comforting fish stew that connects Croatia to coastal Italy that’s found in several Adriatic coastal towns—Brodeto (the Croatian spelling) will “have some drama,” says Crawford. Think a live fire hearth, an outdoor “secret garden” with patio seating, a large bar and a crudo counter. Not to mention the flair added by plans to incorporate materials gathered from the original building into the interior, which will be designed by Louis Cherry Architecture—the firm responsible for the interiors at Crawford’s other establishments.
Crawford emphasizes an open space filled with natural lighting thanks to three walls of floor-to-ceiling windows, where he also hopes to create different “dining environments”—the most prominent of which will be the bar and crudo counter.
Originally something Crawford and his team considered a free-standing concept, the crudo and cocktails could easily be an event all its own, or just the initial part of a full dining experience at Brodeto.
The bar, helmed by beverage manager Jordan Joseph, will spotlight balanced cocktails focused on coastal flavors, coal-grilled fruits and vegetables, infused salts, bitters, and herbal liqueurs, as well as wines from the Adriatic. Meanwhile, the crudo counter will expand on raw dishes with which his team has experimented at Crawford and Son, with a heavy emphasis on seafood, in addition to vegetables and meat. “We just love raw food, and we love the idea of incorporating a crudo bar in an Italian/Croatian concept,” says Crawford.
The main menu at Brodeto will feature traditional dishes from throughout coastal Italy and Croatia, including a plethora of seafood, meats and vegetables cooked in the hearth—“really the only way to cook this food,” he says—plus a handmade pasta program focused on lighter pasta dishes. And naturally, namesake brodeto will be on the menu as well.
“Scott’s culinary talent goes without saying, but to have someone partner with us who is equally excited about our redemptive vision for this place is going to be really special. He not only has a passion for food, but for people and this community. It’s exactly the recipe we were looking for at Raleigh Iron Works.”
—Sam Crutchfield, Managing Director of Leasing & Acquisitions, Grubb Ventures
“Brodeto is an appropriate name because it connects Italy and Croatia, which is something we’re trying to do here,” says Crawford. “But it also speaks to the type of food that we want to serve people—it’s comforting, very fresh ingredients, sort of humble food.”
Crawford is no stranger to introducing new restaurant concepts—but he only wants to do one a year. Now that his highly anticipated Crawford Brothers Steakhouse at Fenton is delayed to 2024, that timing change allowed Brodeto to come to fruition, he says. “We really love this concept,” he adds. “We’ve been wanting to do this for a long time—and we feel this is the perfect space to do it.” Sounds like a recipe for success.raleighironworks.com
Locally owned steakhouses seem to be a bit of an anomaly, as Raleigh boasts only three total. Now, as a new local powerhouse steakhouse is slated to take the scene by storm, we dig into the meat of the matter.
“Steakhouses are classic—it’s Americana,” says Emily Barefoot, manager of The Peddler and daughter of the original owner. And there’s just something about them that we associate with celebrations. Whether for a birthday, engagement, anniversary or any other big life event, a steakhouse is the go-to.
Steakhouses (and steak) are so symbolic in fact that they pervade even pop culture in their significance across endless iconic scenes, from John Candy memorably masticating fat and gristle in The Great Outdoors to the perfectly cooked ribeye in The Matrix to Goodfellas’ famed steak prison dinner scene (“medium rare?—hmm, an aristocrat”)—to, more recently, a breathless Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) bursting into a fancy steakhouse to pick up a steak for dictator boss Miranda Priestly to signify the prime beef’s supreme status via the ridiculousness of the ask. Read: Who gets $teak to go?
But it’s not just the steak. The atmosphere is a major draw—as is the nostalgia it invokes. The ambiance, the fare, the wine, the mood lighting, the white-apron service… they meld to create an experience unparalleled. And they draw on a very collective American experience. And, yet, locally owned steakhouses are, well, rare.
You may or may not know that a locally owned steakhouse has not opened in Raleigh since Reagan was president—or that Raleigh boasts only three, each very unique in identity. There’s the legendary Angus Barn, a literal barn to which people have been flocking for benchmark birthdays, engagements, retirements, company parties, date nights and beyond since it flung open its barn doors in 1960. Every Raleighite has a story there (Raleigh Magazine spent its last three Christmas parties there; our publisher recently celebrated a big birthday for one of her children there; and it’s even where our editor spent her sweet 16 back in the day). From the Wild Turkey Lounge to the meat locker and fire pit in the back, everyone has a favorite spot and memory at the Barn—its popularity proven by its status as one of the most profitable restaurants in the country according to Restaurant Business Magazine.
The Peddler has been serving aged-to-perfection steaks out of its original family-owned and -operated Glenwood Avenue location since 1969.
For a more saloon-style experience, there’s The Peddler, a family-owned and -operated steakhouse that opened in an unassuming strip mall in Northwest Raleigh in 1969—and will surely transport you back in time to that era thanks to its wooden walls and carpeted dining room, dim lighting, and background jazz music… not to mention its traditional throwback salad bar.
Vinnie’s chef/GM Armstrong emphasizes the resto is more than just a steakhouse, and he’s worked at expanding the menu since he took the helm as chef.
And bringing us to the Reagan era, Vinnie’s Steakhouse & Tavern entered the scene in 1987 with its Al Pacino-esque vibes. You can almost picture cigar smoke swirling against the apropos dark wooden walls and classic white-tablecloth-dotted room. Named for famous Vince McMahon—the founder and operator of World Wrestling Entertainment, with whom former owner Dusty Anderson went to school—Vinnie’s also houses a small wine cellar located in the middle of the restaurant and a separate tavern menu for the bar, which feels just as welcoming as your go-to neighborhood hangout.
Each a traditional steakhouse in its own right, each has its own unique feel—and frequenters, due not only to the great food offered, but the service. “Maybe the most important thing, whether you’re a steakhouse or not, is consistency,” says Vinnie’s chef and GM Tom Armstrong, who’s been at the restaurant for nearly 17 years. “People want to know what to expect and what they’re gonna get. In the restaurant industry, it’s not just about food, it’s about the people who are taking care of you.”
People have always been drawn to steakhouses as their go-to celebratory spot. But why?
“If you think back, it wasn’t gourmet restaurants, it was steakhouses—and that’s where you went to get a really great dinner,” says Walter Royal, Angus Barn’s chef for the last 27 years.
From a price-point perspective, it makes sense. We associate celebrations with splurging—and steak is expensive. “People associate a great steak with indulgence and celebration,” emphasizes Nicholas Papas, GM of renowned regional chain Oak Steakhouse, who touts a long career in the steakhouse industry.
And that trend has stood the test of time. A cornerstone of U.S. restaurant history, steakhouses were born in the mid-1800s, with the first established in New York’s Meatpacking District. Set apart by high-quality cuts of beef, these OG chophouses—as they were also called—were reserved for the upper class, and mostly geared toward men, what with their “masculine” atmosphere. Think leather seating, dark wood furniture, dim lighting, cigars. Though—while their pricey, upscale status remained—eventually, steakhouses became more female- and family-friendly.
Ultimately, if you’re going to eat a steak that’s $70, $80, $110, adds Papas, why wouldn’t you want to sit in a beautiful restaurant with great music, great lighting and just a great atmosphere? “Because then you get a great experience—you don’t just get dinner,” he says. Not to mention, steak isn’t something most people cook on a regular basis, given its cost.
In fact, the steak-sperts we spoke to all reiterated that the grill cook in a steakhouse is the most important person in the room, as steak is typically the most expensive product in the building, and they’re handling hundreds, if not thousands of dollars nightly.
Local Chef Comeup
Bigwig local chefs and restaurateurs don’t often delve into steakhouses—that is, until now. Enter prolific restaurateur Scott Crawford’s Crawford Brothers Steakhouse, anticipated to open in Fenton in 2024. But why now?
To that he answers: “I’ve always thought it was a concept we could do very well—our interpretation of a classic concept. We have done that thus far.” Take Crawford & Son, his modern interpretation of a neighborhood American restaurant; Jolie, an interpretation of a classic Parisian bistro; and even Crawford Cookshop, a modern interpretation of a neighborhood grill.
Never mind that a larger restaurant would also give Crawford and his restaurant group the ability to serve larger parties, which they’re unable to do at Crawford’s existing smaller locations. “And we think the steakhouse concept is perfect for that,” he says.
And despite the fact that Raleigh is growing rapidly, with new restaurants opening almost every other day, people love the nostalgia of a tried-and-true spot, which goes hand-in-hand with the nostalgic appeal of dining at a steakhouse in general. “There’s such depth of character in those [locally owned] places,” says Crawford. “That’s what I love about them.”
With Crawford Brothers Steakhouse, Crawford fully intends to honor some of the traditions you see in a classic steakhouse (a la carte steaks, for example), while implementing a little more creativity and a modern interpretation—think aged steaks, specialty beef like wagyu and chef-driven sides, plus an elevated cocktail program. Crawford also plans to create a membership club, with a secret room for members to host private dinners (!).
“I think there’s a good place for all steakhouses,” says Crawford. “I think people will realize, though, when they come to [Crawford Brothers] why and how ours stands out.”
Chef Scott Crawford
Up the Chain
Let’s be real. There’s a reason why most steakhouses throughout the country—and in Raleigh—are typically chains. “Money talks,” explains Papas. “In order to have consistency and quality, you have to have a good source of protein—your meat has to be coming from a great farm. So a larger chain might be able to get in there and get a good rate, a good contract and establish a really good relationship.”
Of course, chain steakhouses have their place and people know what to expect, says Crawford. Take Texas Roadhouse, which boasts 600+ locations across the country and greatly increased its sales over the last couple years, with Restaurant Business reporting a 15% increase compared to 2019 this past December. (And who doesn’t love those rolls.)
But while chain steakhouses have certainly staked their claim in the area, the City of Oaks’ own prominent long-standing locally owned steakhouses have managed to prosper—so, obviously, they’re doing something right.
For its part, Angus Barn has survived—and thrived—for so long not just because of its reputable food, wine and service, but “merely the fact of how we make people feel,” says Royal. “When you’re dining with us at the Angus Barn, you are the most important person in the world. People come here for the longevity. They know the quality, the name.”
“I take pride in the fact that I have so many staff members who have stuck around for so long. A couple managers have been here for 10, 12 years, which doesn’t happen very often in this industry. It’s a good sign, and it’s good for business.”
—Tom Armstrong, Vinnie’s chef/GM
As for The Peddler: “We are quite literally a classic,” says Barefoot. “I think The Peddler has managed to stay successful for so long because we don’t waiver in our quality or the customer experience—we try to stay a little current in regards to atmosphere and palates, but this is the same exact Peddler that your parents or grandparents brought you to as a kid.”
Independent steakhouses have more freedom to experiment than a chain steakhouse might, maintains Crawford, given they tend to be chef-driven and the quality’s controlled in-house, rather than by a corporate-type entity.
But Crawford isn’t the only prominent chef around the country throwing his hat around the horns. Top national restaurateurs who cut their teeth with creative concepts similar to, say, Crawford & Son have also been opening their own steakhouses—see Ford Fry’sMarcel in Atlanta and CUT by Wolfgang Puck, the latter of which now touting eight locations worldwide.
So is this truly a sign of a steak resurgence? Or will it take another 40 years for a local chef to open another steakhouse? Well, let’s hope not.
