I’m pretty sure everyone knows THE Clubhouse…right? I mean one of the most sincere and exquisite steakhouse yet! But there is only one in the UK…

Azam Riyard, owner of Clubhouse, an inspiring gentleman. A legend to interview. The only halal dry-steak house in the country…

Clubhouse, an international award winning steakhouse and highly accomplished. I conducted an interview with Mr Azam Riyard on the origins of his remarkable business, a thought that ponders everyone’s mind. 

In 2016, the birth of The Clubhouse, started as a place for young Asians to relax over food after playing cricket or watching it with family. Mr Riyard described this as ‘socialising with family’ as it gave young Asians a chance to talk and spend time with their family. Mr Riyard chose a food business, as it had special meaning to it and he portrayed it as ‘important and vital’ which gave much more meaning to his food.

Mr Riyard is not only a great chef, but a great person, he gave working opportunities to those who are homeless, some volunteered to help him like some young people who he created this space for. This gave them something to engage with and prevented people from doing bad things. At this moment in time, they do not work for him right now, however, they are ‘on call’ and ready to assist him and The Clubhouse when needed. As every parent would, his mother is proud and has supported him in every way possible.

Out of the many things Mr Riyard is proud of and has achieved. The main one is that he got recognised. A small idea, looking at a close building near him and bringing that opportunity made him get recognised globally. Although today, he is recognised for his famous dry steaks and the rest of his foods. 

There are always good and bad times, Mr Riyard went through them too. He experienced difficult people, and not getting what he needed from the people he later recruited and many other things. On the other hand, Mr Riyard has faith in his products, not something everyone has. During our interview, I inquired about why he only has one store in the UK. He replied to me with something along the lines of “Everyone comes to try my food from all over the country.” This explained that there was not a need for any other stores, people come for his unique taste and his wonderful recipes.

Even though Mr Riyard has no plans on introducing more stores in the UK, that doesn't stop him from opening more restaurants in other countries. Currently he is trying to open restaurants in Sri Lanka and possibly Maldives. 

The main message we can get from this is that his ingredients are special and so is his recipe. However we mustn’t forget where things started and those who have been with us all the way. One impact Mr Riyard explained to me was that even though people don't even know what halal is, when coming to Clubhouse, they get educated naturally. Eventually we all fall in love with the amazing taste he has created for us