Steakhouses that age and cut their own steaks

I generally avoid eating at steakhouses, because I hate paying inflated prices for something I can do just as well (or better) at home. I know that the great majority of steak houses buy their steaks in pre-packaged cryovac packages that are sold by a handful of distributors. That means that the $50 steak I buy at one establishment may actually have been cut from the exact same animal as the steak that I buy from another restaurant. The only thing that sets those restaurants apart is the abilty to proprerly cook the meat to order.

The exceptions are the few places that actually buy primal cuts of beef, age them in-house and cut and trim the steaks when ordered. Dave Burke's is an obvious (and exceptional) example of such a place. What are some others? I would like to list those places, since those are the only steakhouses I would consider recommending ( I don't know why visitors to Chi-town all want steak, I have had much better meat in KC, Omaha or Mexico City ). I know many places would have you believe that they age and cut their own, but unless I have actually seen a fuzzy green slab pulled from a meat locker, I wouldn't believe it. A recent thread left the impression that there are a few such places (besides Priemhouse) around town. What are they and how do they compare in execution, service and price?

Dave

Chicago Cut.

Dave,

A few years ago, a group from LTH dined and than toured the kitchens of Smith and Wollensky, and we were able to see not only the dry aging room, but the actual butcher shop. Yes, butcher shop. There are two separate kitchens, in order to pump out upwards of 1000 covers an evening. Whole primals are brought in from NYC and dry aged in house. Whole tenderloins wet aged in the butcher shop. We were told that they maintain a half a million dollar meat inventory.

Evil Ronnie wrote:Dave,
A few years ago, a group from LTH dined and than toured the kitchens of Smith and Wollensky, and we were able to see not only the dry aging room, but the actual butcher shop. Yes, butcher shop. There are two separate kitchens, in order to pump out upwards of 1000 covers an evening. Whole primals are brought in from NYC and dry aged in house. Whole tenderloins wet aged in the butcher shop. We were told that they maintain a half a million dollar meat inventory.

Yes, I remember seeing that thread. I was surprised that Smith and Wollensky, being a chain, took so much care with their meat. Unfortunately, when a tourist requests a "Chicago" steak, S & W is not what they are expecting to hear. Though it is definitely on my list of acceptable choices. The only problem is they don't offer my favorite cut, a NY strip. Though I suppose I could split a porterhouse for two with somebody that wants just the filet side. I find it interesting that S & W has several sirloins they offer. I think this is an often under-rated piece of meat with terrific flavor and solid texture. As far as I am concerned, you can keep your filets and rib-eyes, I like my meat with a bit of chew.

Dave,

Check the menu again. It's there. (It's the only steak I order there, both boneless and the KC bone in strip.)

Evil Ronnie wrote:Dave,

Check the menu again. It's there. (It's the only steak I order there, both boneless and the KC bone in strip.)

Is a KC-cut sirloin the same as a NY strip? The nomenclature has always confused me.

I believe so: see http://www.foodsubs.com/MeatBeefLoin.html and http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/KC-and-N ... 61341.aspx

The Capital Grille claims to dry age their steaks "on premises", but does that mean they butcher them there also? Does anybody know? They say their rib-eye is "wet-aged" which seems weird, since that moist and fatty cut would benefit most from dry aging.

It does seem that quite a few places claim to dry-age their steaks now-a-days, but I suspect they actually come pre-cut prior to aging, also doesn't dry-aging require a salt cave?. Worse yet, some places claim to "wet-age" their steaks, which, to me at least, means they just let them sit in their plastic sleeves.

When I hear the term dry age, I envision a place that pulls a whole loin of beef from a salt lined meat locker. The primal cut has a 2-3 inch layer of fat surrounding it covered in bluegreen fuzz. The steak is then sawed to the appropriate thickness and finally a couple of inches of the outer fatty layer is trimmed away, leaving about 3/8" of milky fat surrounding a deep red (almost purple) core of well marbled beef. That's the way the old Clarendon meat market used to do it (or the places in the old Randolph market) . Am I just expecting too much?

I am, by no means, a meat cutting expert. I just have distant memories of trips to the butcher when things were much different than they are now. If I am dropping a bill or more on a steak dinner, I expect my meat to be aged, cut and trimmed by the "Old School" procedures and standards and not cut from a plastic shrink-wrap casing stamped "dry-aged".

d4v3 wrote:The Capital Grille claims to dry age their steaks "on premises", but does that mean they butcher them there also? Does anybody know? They say their rib-eye is "wet-aged" which seems weird, since that moist and fatty cut would benefit most from dry aging.

They butcher in house; you can get a steak cut to order. Btw, imo, good steak houses will cut to order upon request. Not all of their steaks are dry aged. Wet-aged has higher moisture given its aging process...

David Burke's Primehouse also has some serious and seriously good dry aged steaks.
616 N. Rush St.
312-660-6000

Some restaurants, like Publican and Harry Caray's have a dry aged steak on the menu.

d4v3 wrote:Is a KC-cut sirloin the same as a NY strip? The nomenclature has always confused me.

Yes. Its also known as a shell steak.

Dave,

Salt is not and has never been a part of the dry aging process, except in ther mind of David Burke's publicist.

Great gimmick!

Is there a difference in quality between a steak dry aged in a restaurant kitchen and one dry aged at a meat cuting plant such as Allen Bros? I suspect the one from Allen Bros. would be better. After all, they've been doing it for more than a century.

I had a steak recently in Dallas which might have been the best steak in my life. It was a 45 day wet aged cowboy ribeye. So much for dry aging. (Cooked over mesquite wood.)

Evil Ronnie wrote:Salt is not and has never been a part of the dry aging process, except in ther mind of David Burke's publicist.
Great gimmick!
Is there a difference in quality between a steak dry aged in a restaurant kitchen and one dry aged at a meat cuting plant such as Allen Bros? I suspect the one from Allen Bros. would be better. After all, they've been doing it for more than a century.
I had a steak recently in Dallas which might have been the best steak in my life. It was a 45 day wet aged cowboy ribeye. So much for dry aging. (Cooked over mesquite wood.)

Thanks Ronnie. I guess there is a lot of BS out there. I always thought dry-aging was superior to wet aging. I also wondered about the salt thing, because I have never seen a butcher age meat in salt, they just have the meat on a shelf in a locker. There are a few restaurants that boast "aging" rooms, but according to you (who has probably cooked more steaks than I have seen) it is all PR. I still like the notion of a steakhouse with an in-house butcher, but as you point out, why would a butcher working in a steak house be any better than one that works for Allen Bros (and allen bros. is probably more willing to dispose of an inferior steak than a restaurant)? Isn't there any taste advantage with a fresh cut steak vs. a pre-cut packaged one? Actually this sort of brings me back to the point that one steakhouse is the same as another, except for the skill of the chefs they employ.

d4v3 wrote: Actually this sort of brings me back to the point that one steakhouse is the same as another, except for the skill of the chefs they employ.

Even for places using the same meat purveyors you can find a difference in selectivity- serve the cut with a bunch of gristle or not.

In addition there is a question of style, not just the chef's skill. Some places are setup for a char and others not. The seasoning can be different as well as the serving stye- meat still hot, possibly on a hot plate, or well rested. And if you go to that place in Texas, grilled over a mesquite wood flame, not a gas broiler.

scottsol wrote:

d4v3 wrote: Actually this sort of brings me back to the point that one steakhouse is the same as another, except for the skill of the chefs they employ.

Even for places using the same meat purveyors you can find a difference in selectivity- serve the cut with a bunch of gristle or not.
In addition there is a question of style, not just the chef's skill. Some places are setup for a char and others not. The seasoning can be different as well as the serving stye- meat still hot, possibly on a hot plate, or well rested. And if you go to that place in Texas, grilled over a mesquite wood flame, not a gas broiler.

In Southern AZ there was a little inn in the desert that specialized in hanger steak cooked over mesquite. It was the most delicious piece of beef I have tasted. Not very tender but absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, they have closed. Another great steak I had was from a popular place in Bloomington, IN. They use choice not prime steak, but you would never know the difference. They cook the steaks on a searing hot open grill and spray them with liquid from squeeze bottles (maybe oil,water and marinade?). The liquid causes great balls o fire to erupt around the meat leaving a dense char on the outside which seals in a cool juicy center. It's an unusual and effective cooking technique. I guess the point is that two chefs can take identical cuts of beef and produce radically different results, or the right chef can take an inferior cut and make the end result into something spectacular. So it is not always the pedigree of the cattle or wet vs. dry-aging that makes the difference.

Dave,

From a food cost point of view, my guess is that most of the high volume places are cutting their own steks from primals. Currently, 0x1 prime strip loins are about $12-13 a pound and 12 oz prime strip steaks cost 25-26 a pound. If you can cut the steaks yourself and sell some steak tips salads/roast beef hash/ burgers from the by product, you come out way ahead by doing the butchering in house.

scottsol

"Even for places using the same meat purveyors you can find a difference in selectivity- serve the cut with a bunch of gristle or not."

You will pay more for a closer trimmed steak. The degree of trim is the customer's choice. Same principle cutting steaks in house. How much are you willing to trim away from those NY's at $13 a pound raw product cost?

(Trim loss on tenderloins and strips is roughly 35-40%!)

Evil Ronnie wrote:Dave,

Salt is not and has never been a part of the dry aging process, except in ther mind of David Burke's publicist.

Great gimmick!

According to Burke, the salt bricks in the aging room help them to age the meat longer. My guess is that they have a desiccant effect.

Peter Luger in New York reportedly has salt blocks, too.

LAZ,

Ask 20 journeyman butchers if they know from salt blocks.

On two different food network shows, I've seen the inner workings of Lugers, from selecting the beef to butchering, and not a word about salt blocks.

Just saying.

I could see salt acting as a desiccant, but if it's not going to have any contact with the aging primals (or even if it will), does it have to be $2/lb Himalayan pink salt? Wouldn't $0.10/lb food grade water softener salt achieve the same effect?

However, I'd imagine that a commercial-grade dehumidifier would be more effective a desiccant than any type of salt.

not in your mind.

I ordered a sirloin last night from a restaurant that dry age their meat. I ordered medium rare. I cut into the steak and noticed that the inside was grey in color. I took a bite and the meat tasted rare, very cool in the center but there was no red or pink color. Is this normal for dry age steak?

PreFlopRaise13 wrote:I ordered a sirloin last night from a restaurant that dry age their meat. I ordered medium rare. I cut into the steak and noticed that the inside was grey in color. I took a bite and the meat tasted rare, very cool in the center but there was no red or pink color. Is this normal for dry age steak?

No it is not. Something was very wrong. My guess is the steak had been cooked before, cooled, and then "flash" warmed on the fire before serving it to you which is why it was very cool in the center.

DutchMuse wrote:

PreFlopRaise13 wrote:I ordered a sirloin last night from a restaurant that dry age their meat. I ordered medium rare. I cut into the steak and noticed that the inside was grey in color. I took a bite and the meat tasted rare, very cool in the center but there was no red or pink color. Is this normal for dry age steak?

No it is not. Something was very wrong. My guess is the steak had been cooked before, cooled, and then "flash" warmed on the fire before serving it to you which is why it was very cool in the center.

I thought so. I notified my server that the steak did not look right. He told me that it should have a cool center and looked like other steaks he served. He took the steak back and had the kitchen put it back under the broiler. This turned a bad steak into a worse steak. Still had no red or pink. It had a better char but was tough and chewy.

d4v3 wrote:( I don't know why visitors to Chi-town all want steak, I have had much better meat in KC, Omaha or Mexico City ).

There's probably more than one reason for this, but I always kind of thought it hearkened back to the days of the stockyards (which some of us can still remember, if only for the incredible smell than hung over that part of the city). Because Chicago was once a huge center of meat processing, you probably had a better chance of getting a good steak here than in a lot of other places in the country. The reputation stuck with us, even though getting a "good steak" seems no longer a huge challenge in most American cities (as long as you're willing to pay for it).

David Hammond wrote:

d4v3 wrote:( I don't know why visitors to Chi-town all want steak, I have had much better meat in KC, Omaha or Mexico City ).

There's probably more than one reason for this, but I always kind of thought it hearkened back to the days of the stockyards (which some of us can still remember, if only for the incredible smell than hung over that part of the city). Because Chicago was once a huge center of meat processing, you probably had a better chance of getting a good steak here than in a lot of other places in the country. The reputation stuck with us, even though getting a "good steak" seems no longer a huge challenge in most American cities (as long as you're willing to pay for it).

Another reason is that these visitors are in Chicago, not Kansas City. The fact that I might get better oysters in Tomales Bay doesn't stop me from seeking out oysters in Boston.

Darren72 wrote:

David Hammond wrote:

d4v3 wrote:( I don't know why visitors to Chi-town all want steak, I have had much better meat in KC, Omaha or Mexico City ).

There's probably more than one reason for this, but I always kind of thought it hearkened back to the days of the stockyards (which some of us can still remember, if only for the incredible smell than hung over that part of the city). Because Chicago was once a huge center of meat processing, you probably had a better chance of getting a good steak here than in a lot of other places in the country. The reputation stuck with us, even though getting a "good steak" seems no longer a huge challenge in most American cities (as long as you're willing to pay for it).

Another reason is that these visitors are in Chicago, not Kansas City. The fact that I might get better oysters in Tomales Bay doesn't stop me from seeking out oysters in Boston.

I had the best oysters of my entire life in Boston, at Neptune's.

Any way, I'm headed to Chicago Cut tonight, and based on reports, I'm probably going with the Rib Eye...or Porterhouse. The Wife always looks at me askance whenever I suggest we have beef at home, so this is my big chance to beef out.

David Hammond wrote:I had the best oysters of my entire life in Boston, at Neptune's.

I know - I tried to go to Neptune's last week, but they were filled up for the night.

d4v3 wrote:Worse yet, some places claim to "wet-age" their steaks, which, to me at least, means they just let them sit in their plastic sleeves.

that is exactly what wet aging is, doesn't mean bad though, think moisture which if the meat is grilled, the moisture can make a 'better' steak.

David Hammond wrote:Any way, I'm headed to Chicago Cut tonight, and based on reports, I'm probably going with the Rib Eye...or Porterhouse. The Wife always looks at me askance whenever I suggest we have beef at home, so this is my big chance to beef out.

How was it? I'm interested because the one time I was there (at lunch), the meat was the one disappointing part of my meal! I'd like another "data point" to find out if my experience was a one-off.

Here's a cheesy video from the Food Network that goes behind the scenes at Peter Luger's in New York.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiRzmd1jWEU

She goes through the whole grading process and shows off the aging vault. Luger's makes my favorite steaks.