The Fire Pit, Rawtenstall

The advertising tagline of  "Every Night is Steak Night!" may not be the most subtle in the world of restaurateurs, or even generally, but it certainly rings true with the people of Rawtenstall, and staff at the Fire Pit try to do it justice.

There are many grill/steakhouse restaurants out there, yet The Fire Pit tries to add a unique twist in terms of its opening gambit and star concept. Instead of just flame grilling meat (preferably in this case steak, it has to be said) they will instead slap it near raw onto a scolding hot slab of volcanic stone, present it to you and allow you to decide how long you wish it to be cooked before consuming. It sounds odd but trust me I am not making this up; this is what they promise and that is what happened upon my visit.

A novel concept certainly; interesting even, but does it and the Fire Pit as a whole have what it takes to hit home with the masses?

Well, mass seems to be the word really, as from the very moment you walk in, the staff seem to be hell bent in theory on providing a weird blend of uniqueness, lighting fast efficiency, and mass-produced scale in a big way. Yet this does not come about in practice. 

When you walk into the place you can see that yes an extensive refurb has gone on, but with no overall theme, center point or distinctive feel; everything seems far too drained and colorless to me. In terms of the atmosphere on the night, well there was certainly an amount of people there (not massively packed but consistently busy I would say) but they are all plonked right in front of you wherever you turn in undignified rows. Yes this may have something to do with space, but it is also as if the owner is saying "look at us; look at all these people who want to eat with us". It just seems tasteless to  a degree. Yes there is an atmosphere in terms of numbers, but in terms of true ambiance - the Fire Pit is woefully sterile and empty.

Now we come to the food itself. The menu is extensive, but again presented in a slightly gimmicky "in ya face" fashion. Having said that my starter of scallops and black pudding with pancetta and peas was cooked beautifully. From this I had high hopes in terms of the quality, and presentation of the fare on offer. Yet when it came to the Steak on a Stone (sirloin in my case) the main attraction, the crown in the Fire Pit's jewel...oh dear.

Well, maybe "oh dear" is a tad harsh. Again very novel, very innovative as a concept, and make no bones about it there was no chance of sending back the steak because it was cold. Yet once it arrived the volcanic stone just sat there and quietly sizzled like a resoundingly disappointing ASDA-bought firework; lots of pomp and circumstance but not nearly enough in the way of substance. It was presented simply enough (which can work) but for one thing the accompanying elements (fries, salad etc) were OK at best, and I feel they needed to be better in order to compliment well. Also - they made us choose three sauces. Why?! Maybe this is just me being aggravatingly paranoid but why? They literally insisted on you choosing three little pots of stuff (from a list that was not that appealing to begin with) to be racked up along side this steak on a stone. Again - this feeling of over the top, Americanesque brashness came into play again. 

Incidentally the staff, whilst attentive and accommodating, were not nearly knowledgeable enough when it came to steak (which in a place that specializes in such might be an issue). But the most glaring problem of them all was the quality of the meat itself. Fresh it may have been, but it was nowhere near mature enough. The minds behind the Fire Pit may have been buying into this new fad that only pink, smooth steak is good (and thus may be counting on all their customers being that way inclined too). Yet for what they were doing to it, the steaks were nowhere near the right level of quality in terms of their origin and pedigree; such was plain for all to taste (though perhaps not for everyone to appreciate). I may sound like a snob here, but in terms of the whole Steak on a Stone package; whilst the intention was there and the result wasn't bad, the promised levels of quality were lacking.

In a way that sums up the Fire Pit for me really. Yes the promise is there and yes there is a distinct element of flair in presentation, and yes the taste is just there at the end of the day. But it is always a question of only just within most elements of the experience. It just seems to me that the manager is relying too much on his niche concept, and as a result is forgoing massively important elements like tone and quality.

As a concept the Fire Pit is fine, but I fear it may be one that is only skin deep; just enough to attract people in but in terms of longevity and a lasting air of quality as well as quantity...I'm not so sure.