The New Inn will sell five cask ales including beers from Herefordshire’s Wye Valley, Derbyshire’s Thornbridge Brewery and Birmingham’s new Beer Geek Brewery.
According to Mr Scriven the inspiration for The New Inn is the successful London-based Hawksmoor group of steakhouses, which has restaurants in Spitalfields, Seven Dials and Guildhall.
Longhorn cattle, incidentally, is Hawksmoor’s (and Heston Blumenthal’s) favourite breed for steak.
Mr Scriven, aged 38, who lives in Kings Heath, said he wanted to copy Hawksmoor in terms of the standard of food, drinks, service and ambiance but insisted he would not be replicating London prices for his steaks.
He envisages charging in the mid-£20 range for prime fillet (330g of fillet at Hawksmoor is £32). Mr Scriven said: “I have been looking at the idea for a steakhouse in Birmingham for some time. I was surprised by the lack of good quality options.
‘‘People will argue about Miller & Carter and Beefeater and Marco Pierre White, whose franchise has landed in Birmingham. But, apart from Anderson’s, there are not many independents. To me, the quality steakhouse options are limited for a city the size of Birmingham.”
Mr Scriven said he was not concerned about competition in the restaurant steak sector, primarily from Pierre White.
The Harborne location appealed because of the economic profile of the suburb and the potential for weekday, as opposed to purely weekend, trade.
Bitters ‘n’ Twisted has bucked the trend throughout the credit crunch and into the recession, registering six openings in six years.
Mr Scrivens’ first venture was the Island Bar, which opened in Suffolk Street in September 2006 with a mission to bring soul, not pretension, to the city’s nightlife scene by offering affordable cocktails.
Island Bar was followed by The Victoria (John Bright Street), The Jekyll & Hyde (Steelhouse Lane), Bodega (Bennetts Hill) and The Rose Villa Tavern (Warstone Lane).
The New Inn is the group’s first venue outside the city centre but Mr Scrivens said his philosophy of developing tried and tested food and drink models meant the Harbone steakhouse did not represent a gamble.
He said: “I am not a Gordon Ramsay. I am not a chef. I am not out to reinvent the wheel. I am out to bring the best of what other people do to Birmingham.”
