Meat Clout Piece

Check out this WBEZ piece:

http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Conte ... ioID=36581

I'm having a hard time deciding if I believe this or think it's a put on. On the one hand, could a little shop in the shadow of Allen Bros. and such places somehow get its hand on top restaurant quality beef? Sure, I guess. On the other hand, it almost reads like a parody of Sula's Reader piece on the secret garage taco place (though I'm sure due to production timing that's not literally true), or at least a prank on the order of (again) Sula's Crib piece.

Seems like a spoof to me even though I suppose it's plausible that Roberto's place really exists. Since the type of meat isn't mentioned at all, that's why I think it's probably not real. The reporting is usually more thorough than that in most CPR pieces. It's also possible that the reporter and those interviewed don't really know great meat, either.

=R=

Yes, the odd lack of specifics (or technical knowledge of meat) and the mention of a marinade made me wonder if it wasn't something relatively common (say, marinated skirt steak) that the reporter simply hadn't had before.

A lot of people think Outback serves great steaks because they're tender. What they don't realize is, you can tenderize a concrete block with enough chemicals.

Or, it could be human flesh.

probably the latter.

I heard this piece during my morning commute this morning. I lived in Bridgeport for over 20 years and was wondering where is this place. I am excited to find out what kind of meat is it as well. *Fingers crossed for A9 grade Wagyu*

I wouldn't be surprised if such a place existed, but given the description, I'd guess it's just some vacuum-packed heavily marinated tenderized piece of meat. Maybe I'm being unfair, but I can't imagine a Mexican (or Polish, or other Eastern/Central European for that matter) butcher secretly stocking some prime-grade beef in the back of the cooler just for a few customers "in the know." It could just be my experience--and please correct me if I'm wrong--but I don't get the sense that highly marbled, naturally tender meat plays as significant a role in the cuisine of that culture as it does in other ones. Then again, maybe he's just catering to American tastes, but even then, given how many people equate mushy tenderness (as opposed to toothesome tenderness) with quality (see how often "fall-off-the-bone" is used as a high compliment in meat discussions) I'm not sure that he is.