Opening on 2 November, Elezar will draw on the region’s flavours and techniques, including pickling, fermenting, curing and preserving, as well as the heritage of Zelman, head chef Erik Miotto and consulting chef David Bury.
Its name is adapted from the Hebrew Eleazar, meaning “God has helped”.
Located within the crypt of St George’s Church on Hanover Square, the space was most recently home to Aldo Zilli’s Undercroft, which launched early this year but quietly closed this summer after less than six months’ trading.
The restaurant was initially intended to be Birmingham chef Brad Carter’s London debut, but he left the project around six months before it launched.
Restaurant understands that Zilli’s backers and the site’s former owners, Martin Priestnall and Michael Kill, are no longer involved.
Miotto, whose previous roles include Cycene and Akoko, draws on his Ukrainian family roots, while Bury brings his Polish heritage to a kitchen that will undertake whole-carcass butchery and prepare whole fish.
The menu will open with zakuski: rye open sandwiches topped with thick slices of butter and a choice of herring, pork cheek, anchovy or caviar.
Hot and cold starters will include pierogi and mackerel tartare. Meat and fish mains will be priced at £28, with dishes including tuna ribeye on the bone and a Dingley Dell pork chop with smoked parsnip, alongside Denver and picanha cuts.
Additional more premium cuts, including ribeye and T-bone, will feature as daily specials.
Sides will include sauerkraut, hasselback potatoes with garlic and dill, tomato salad and bitter leaves.
Meat fridges displaying whole carcasses and dry-aged cuts will sit at the centre of the dining room, with counter seating overlooking the preparation area.
Drinks will include a pickle Martini, a Fernet Spritz made with Czech Fernet, a Czech house beer and a vodka-led cocktail selection featuring spirits from Poland, Hungary, Serbia and Ukraine.
The head of wine Merlin Ramos, whose CV include Humo and Town. His list will include Polish producer Kamil Barczentewicz, wines from the Balkans, a substantial French selection and house claret on tap. It will be organised around six themed “journeys”.
“I want Elezar to become a restaurant guests are proud to return to and recommend, with my own heritage and my team’s at the very core of everything we do,” Zelman says.
“With more than 30 years in steakhouses and beef, and long-standing relationships with the best farmers and suppliers, I want to bring everything I’ve learned into this project, because our guests are at the heart of everything we do, and buying whole carcasses and whole fish allows us to offer something very important to me: fair prices.”