World-famous restaurateur Riccardo Giraudi talks about opening his new Beefbar in Limassol (video)

Riccardo Giraudi was in Cyprus in June to attend the opening of his brand new Beefbar in Limassol, and CBN had the opportunity to sit down with him for an interview.

Watch CBN's interview with Riccardo Giraudi below:

Giraudi – aka the Beefboy and owner of 50 “give or take” restaurants worldwide – is not only Europe’s exclusive importer of the finest meats in the world, but also a dynamic and creative restaurateur, with a portfolio including his famous Beefbar chain and his Heritage Brands.

The Beefboy was in Cyprus to attend the opening of his brand new Beefbar at AMARA Hotel in Limassol. And he revealed that this is only his second time on the island. “It’s the second time I’ve come here,” he said. “And the first time I arrived I saw this hotel (AMARA) and it just reflects everything that the brand aspires to in general. It’s international, it’s beautiful, it’s calm and soothing, it’s linear, it’s everything I like.”

So when the opportunity arose to visit while on a trip to Athens, he decided to check it out. “Cyprus was not on the map,” he stressed; but then when he saw the AMARA, he was sold; his decision also helped by the fact that he would be opening alongside Locatelli and Matsuhisa restaurants.

This is the sixth Beefbar in the Mediterranean area – one in Athens, Santorini and Mykonos, and two in Malta – and as Giraudi explains, “it’s a Beefbar like any other”. However, there have been some tweaks to the Cyprus concept. “We’ve kept it more fresh, fishy also, a lot more salads, much more inspired by Greece, by the Middle East. Also, because it’s hot, it’s very important that you adapt the menu to what you think the customer is looking for, especially in a hotel.”

Giraudi’s fascination with high-quality and exclusive meats began in the early 2000s, when he quickly became the UK’s leading importer of American Black Angus beef, Australian meat and later on, the first European importer of certified Japanese Kobe beef.