Feature: The Entourage incoming

With The Entourage Group debuting Mr Porter Steakhouse in the UK next month, team Dine Out caught up with founder Yossi Eliyahoo to discuss the promising prospects of the operator’s flourishing brand portfolio

The Entourage Group’s story begins on the charming streets of Amsterdam in 2008, with the high-end pan-Asian restaurant, bar and lounge concept Momo marking the group’s first venture in the global dining scene.

“I’ve been in hospitality for as long as I can remember,” says Yossi Eliyahoo, founder and co-owner of the group. “Seventeen years ago, I was approached by a hotelier in Europe – he’d recently bought property in Amsterdam and thought we should do a joint venture. While I was based in London back then, I already knew I liked Amsterdam very much, but I went and saw the property and just thought, why not?!

“Everything felt good, but the industry in Amsterdam was a little bit behind that of London and other major cities,” he adds. “It’s very cosmopolitan and international, but it was lacking in high-end hospitality.”

Even back then, the city was no stranger to Michelin-starred venues and fine dining concepts, but Eliyahoo couldn’t help feeling that something was still missing. “There was nothing that seemed to embody the things that The Entourage Group now stands for,” he adds. “There was no ‘full package’, nothing that successfully merged music and contemporary design with dining, and that wasn’t quite fully formal but sat firmly within the high-end.”

Sixteen years on from its launch, Momo remains one of the most popular spots in the city, consistently named in ‘Best Restaurant’ listicles created for foodies exploring the city.

But that was just the beginning. Now, the group has built a diverse catalogue of concepts across the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and the UK. From the Mumbai street food offer at Shirkhan’s to the cool and casual pizza served at Toni Loco, to the refined flavours of Southern France and Italy found at The Duchess, this group isn’t afraid to leave its stamp on cuisines and dining categories it may never have previously explored.

“We opened The Duchess in Amsterdam in the summer of 2015 and got a Michelin star just one year later,” Eliyahoo chimes. “Following that, we explored other cities and countries in Europe like Munich, Hamburg, Barcelona and Ibiza. But now I think it’s time to go back to London.”

Preparing for the Big Smoke

The group certainly is homing in on its UK estate. Among its impressive portfolio sits The Butcher, an award-winning ‘haute couture’ burger bar founded in Amsterdam in 2012. Now, the brand has several outposts across the city, as well as branches in The Hague and Ibiza. But it was the launch of the franchised Manchester site that kick-started Eliyahoo and the group’s move to the UK in 2022.

“It’s doing really well,” notes the operator. “It’s moving to a bigger site that will have better visibility for the brand. Then we launched a new branch at The Cube in London’s Canary Wharf in June. We’re also working on the design and construction of Toni Loco Pizza in Birmingham.”

One of the most reputed Entourage brands can’t yet be found in the UK market – but the countdown is on for its debut. Described as “cosmopolitan yet familiar”, and “extravagant yet modest”, Mr Porter Steakhouse sits within that premium yet accessible bracket that continues to work so well for the group. It lands at the Park Lane Hilton Hotel in Mayfair in September, meaning consumers will be able to experience the brand’s expertly seared steaks in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Ibiza and, at last, the UK capital.

Yossi Eliyahoo, founder and co-owner, The Entourage Group

“I’m very excited as much as I am terrified,” Eliyahoo continues. “For me, it’s the biggest hospitality city in the world. London is like the Champions League for hospitality. The competition is very high. I’m aware of it because I’ve been on and off in London for 23 years, so I know the market very well. But I actually think that competition is great. If you have something to bring to the table, you add value to the rest of the industry. I think we’re bringing something new that doesn’t already exist in the city.”

Steak your claim

Don’t get it twisted – Eliyahoo knows that steak is a big deal not just in London, but across the UK. He’s well aware that there are already long-established steakhouses in all corners of the city – as he mentioned before, he knows the market well. But Mr Porter isn’t your average steakhouse; it crosses the border of restaurant, bar and lounge, artfully blending the qualities of the modern steakhouse with the buzz of a chic lounge, while emphasising the social experience that’s integral to the out-of-home occasion. It offers a “vibe-driven” approach to fine dining, where guests can be tucking into Japanese wagyu or lobster one minute, and strutting their stuff to a live DJ around the venue’s signature island bar the next.

“Mr Porter is the full package I was talking about,” the founder explains. “It has different layers of music, design and even a different sort of structure with the food. We have lots of signature dishes you don’t see anywhere else. Mr Porter is very unique and ready to come to London after nine years. The concept has been proven already in Amsterdam and elsewhere – people love it! Hopefully, people in London will share the love for Mr Porter.”

Another thing that sets the concept apart from other steak-centred brands is the group’s claim that it offers more vegetarian options than any other steakhouse worldwide. While we’ll have to take their word for it, these meat-free dishes certainly aren’t the dull, cookie-cutter veggie plates that too often frequent restaurant menus; there’s not a mushroom risotto to be found anywhere on, or even near the menu. Instead, you’ll find Zucchini Carpaccio, Roasted Aubergine with Grated Egg or Taboon with Roasted Vegetables and Sesame Sauce, to name just a few. It’s a tempting list of plates, that’s for sure – but make no mistake that steak will always be the star of the show when it comes to dining at Porter.

“People are eating less meat and are more focused on balancing their diets,” says Eliyahoo. “But that means that when they do go out, they’re far more likely to choose the meat option, even if they do so two or three times a month. People rarely buy steak to cook at home anymore.

“I hear more and more about vegan burger chains that are closing. But the fact is, if you take any good meat burger concept and put that against a plant-based competitor, there’s no comparison in terms of both volume and turnover. There’s a lot of fakeness, so many chemicals, in most of those meat alternative products. It’s not necessarily healthy. To make vegetables taste and look like meat requires lots of things that aren’t natural. Personally, I believe in eating everything. I believe in balance. That’s how we designed the Mr Porter menu. It’s the most vegetarian-friendly steakhouse restaurant in the world – I think there are more than 20 vegetarian dishes. Our focus as a Mediterranean steakhouse means we have a lot of creative dishes – you’re eating a lot of vegetables before you even get to the meat. And, when you get to the meat, it’s a dish designed to be shared. So, if you have a 750g steak with a bone and it’s shared between four people, you’re only actually eating around 180g of meat. It’s all about balance – we have a lot of fish, lots of vegetables and plenty of meat. That’s why I call it a ‘modern steakhouse’. It’s not about having trendy décor and furnishing, though of course our design is contemporary; it’s about the very heart of the concept itself.”

Bring in The Entourage

On paper, Mr Porter is the perfect fit for London’s sophisticated, dynamic and ever-growing dining scene, but the group has plans to take other UK cities by storm, with hopes to establish further outposts that cross its vast and varied concept portfolio.

“I think we’ll love the UK’s casual dining segment – especially burgers and pizzas. With the right partners, of course, we’d roll out all over the UK,” he posits. “Maybe we could even open our own places in London to start with. There’s certainly a place there for The Butcher. I’m getting options for sites, but it would need to be the right place, the right rent and the right location.”

However, when it comes to the group’s presence in the high-end dining channel, Eliyahoo and his team are not in any rush to grow the UK estate. “I have high hopes for London, and I want to conquer that first,” he emphasises. “I want to give it time and make sure it’s well established. After that we’d look at Manchester and other big cities that have the right volumes and are open-minded. I can definitely see that happening in the future.”

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