Flame, at 3 Bedford Square in Belfast, is a bit of a wonder
Flat iron steak sandwich at Flame
A new restaurant generates optimism. Those behind a new place are so optimistic and risk averse, their confidence in infectious and affects us all. You think you’ve got troubles? Try taking on a restaurant project.
The care and attention to the design and machinery of the restaurant; the investment; the planning permissions, so laborious, slow and onerous that we are surprised anybody bothers anymore; the recruitment challenge in a shrunken world of hospitality workers rarer than hip surgeons — all these hoops the visionary has to jump through before opening night. It requires superhuman levels of optimism and hope, determination and a measure of insanity.