Photographer Joss McKinley’s depictions of the sinewy foods stored in the underground meat room of London’s Newman Street Tavern chime with some of Francis Bacon’s distorted, blood-red works in today’s juxtaposed series. Bacon’s psychologically charged and carcass-filled canvases reflect on a disadvantaged period in post-war England. The artist saw beauty in the butcher’s shops and abattoirs he visited—a feeling that might be shared by the curious clientele who regularly tiptoe downstairs for a peek into the glass-walled basement of the metropolis’ newest gastronomic destination that is a short walk north from Bacon’s old haunt, Soho. “We try to know as much about where our food comes from as possible and we’re not shy about that,” says Head Chef and Partner Peter Weeden, whose versatile menu offers celebrated seafood dishes such as escabeche of scad alongside carnivorous options like blackface lamb and barley stew. With dry air circulated at a temperature of 36.5-37.4F (2.5-3C), the subterranean room’s contents are reduced to 85 percent of their mass within weeks, intensifying their complex, gamey flavors. The function of the establishment’s hanging meat display is as instructive as it is aesthetic. “We’re a kitchen that makes everything,” explains Weeden. “The meat’s visibility is important so that everyone realizes it’s part of that process.” McKinley’s close-ups evoke the “savage, distressing and historical” qualities he recalls experiencing in the presence of Francis Bacon’s paintings—just in time for Phaidon’s release of a new monograph dedicated to the British artist as part of its Phaidon Focus series.