Cut & Craft York opens in Leeds Victoria Quarter

Cut & Craft is opening in Leeds city centre in the Victoria Quarter next to The Ivy and Ivy Asia, and in a listed building that was once home to Collinson’s Cafe, where Wallace Hartley played in the orchestra shortly before boarding the ill-fated Titanic as band master.

The building makes the most of a beautiful glass dome and features a circular central bar.

York-businessmen Oscar Akgul and Osman Dogan have invested about £1.6 million in the venture, taking their York Cut & Craft steakhouse brand to the heart of Leeds with the new 150-cover restaurant.

The 7,000 sq ft venture, twice the size of the York site, will include a mezzanine floor and private dining space, and will create about 80 jobs - bringing the total the company employs to about 470.

It follows the £800,000 invested by the business partners in Lucia York last year and a £600,000 refurbishment at Lucia Harrogate - with the Lucia in Beverley and the original Cut & Craft in York, taking the duo's total restaurant portfolio to five.

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"I have lived in York for 25 years now and this is a really proud moment for our York-born brand to go to Leeds," said Oscar.

"It's been a tough two years getting everything right with the beautiful Victorian building, but we are finally there.

"We have used the best quality fittings with gold, marble, velvet and brass, whilst being careful to maintain the historic fabric of the old building, but we are very down to earth individuals and though the place looks expensive, customers will still get the same friendly service.

"Our dedicated chefs are working away in the background just to select, store and prepare the best meat - there's a lot of effort going in behind the scenes."

York-businessmen Oscar Akgul and Osman Dogan, from Cut and Craft, pictured in Leeds (Image: UGC)

Cut & Craft Leeds is set to open from Monday seven days a week from 11am-10pm.

They are employing a new team of dedicated customer experience managers at the restaurants to offer guests a tailor-made experience, from arranging private entry to sourcing a favourite wine, organising photography and ordering flowers for special occasions.

Oscar said the menu includes some great value offerings including their signature 10oz flat-iron steaks of £12.

"All we want is for our guests to see that all the effort that goes into these restaurants, and when they have the opportunity to dine out, that they put local and independent restaurants - not just ours - in their minds, rather than just the chain brands," said Oscar.

"We are very proud to be on the Yorkshire scene and that's why we have the white rose on our logo. My surname, Akgul, also means white rose, so it all fits!"

Oscar Akgul (Image: UGC)