Medium Rare Looking for LA Flagship Location, ‘Has To Be Iconic’

Medium Rare, a Washington, D.C.-based hotspot that focuses on steak frites, is looking to open a location in Los Angeles. Co-owner Mark Bucher is currently scouting potential properties in and around the area.

Bucher is looking to expand Medium Rare Restaurant Group, which he owns with partner Tom Gregg, to as many as 26 North American cities including in Atlanta. The LA location will stand as the flagship for the brand, Bucher said in a phone interview with What Now Los Angeles on Monday.

“We’re only opening one in LA… so it has to be iconic,” he said. “Go big or go home.”

He’s looking for a space with lots of outside seating, between 2,700 to 3,000 square feet or a freestanding building. He’s aiming for a busy urban area where people gather.

He arrived in California on Monday and has 15 sites to look at during the week. They are at the very beginning of the process, Bucher said.

“We’re starting bright eyed and bushy tailed (Tuesday) morning,” he said.

There is no set timeline yet, Bucher said, but he wants to open as soon as possible, hopefully before the end of the year.

“It’s all dependent on finding the right spot,” and leasing or buying the space at the right price, he said.

Medium Rare’s DC locations have a European-like atmosphere with the outdoor dining, Bucher explained, and they’ll try to replicate that in Los Angeles.

Menu-wise, the Los Angeles restaurant will be exactly the same as the DC locations: Focused on steak frites. It’s been popular in Europe for centuries, he explained as his reasoning for the simple and straightforward menu.

“We figured it was about time we did our rip on it in America,” he said, and nothing really hits the spot for the American palette than steak and potatoes. “And we do it really well, better than anyone. We live and breathe it.”

With 11 years and three locations in the general DC area under his belt, he’s confident he understands Medium Rare’s customer base, and they’ll be in LA market as well.

“It’s going to be big out here, no question,” he said.

Bucher, who has provided more than 30,000 free meals to those dealing with food insecurity in the nation’s capital, also founded nonprofit Feed the Fridge. Funded by donations, it pays restaurants to prepare meals that are then stocked in community refrigerators around the city.

“People help themselves to what they need, no questions asked,” the press release reads. “People are fed, restaurants get paid, it’s a win-win.”

Feed the Fridge, which focuses primarily on children and the elderly, will also eventually be established in Los Angeles, Bucher confirmed.

He’s excited to get rooted and get going in Los Angeles.

“I’m ecstatic.,” Bucher said. “I like California and I love LA… This is very exciting.”