The latest outpost of Mark Bucher’s Medium Rare steak-and-fries restaurant is set to open January 20 on Barracks Row.
“We just got our final health certificate, and we’re doing training this week” and next, says Bucher, no stranger to red meat; his
BGR The Burger Joint restaurants dot the region.
Bucher says he bided his time waiting for a vacancy on 8
th Street SE. When 515 came up, once site of Chinese food stalwart Fusion Grill, Bucher leapt at the opportunity, retaining Philadelphia’s
Stokes Architecture to handle the design of the space.
“We’ve waited 2.5 years to get here,” he says. “We got an offered an incredible deal to be at the Yards, but we turned it down, because it’s not a neighborhood yet. Not like Barracks Row is.”
The first Medium Rare opened in Cleveland Park three years ago, to acclaim from steak frites fans. Its $19.50 prix fixe dinner menu: bread, green salad, culotte steak, fries. Desserts – from apple pie to chocolate layer cake – are $8 each.
The menu is narrow for one basic reason: “people always order the same thing at restaurants,” he says. “You go out for Thai, you order the same thing; you go out for pizza, you get the same pie. The one-dish restaurant concept is a format that’s been around in Europe for a while but it’s never been done widely here.
“Simplicity,” he adds, “is our middle name.
The new Medium Rare will seat 80, Bucher says, and offer something for vegetarians (Bucher’s wife is one): a grilled Portobello mushroom option.
One last thing, Mark: is it cool to order steak well done at Medium Rare?
“Of course!” he says with a laugh. “There are no big egos here; there is no state-of-the-art plate presentation. We set out to be family-friendly and affordable to everybody.”
Family-friendly should go a long way on the Hill, to be sure, where strollers crowd the aisles of Ted’s Bulletin and Banana Café.