Steak

Peter Luger: A New York Institution since 1887

Since 1887, Peter Luger Steak House has served the finest of steaks. For 26 consecutive years, Peter Luger has been the number one steak house in New York, according to Zagat's, and its customers have included a host of celebrities, from Alfred Hitchcock to James Cagney and Robert De Niro.

Fans of the New York institution rejoiced when the esteemed steakhouse entered the cyberworld of online meat purveying with the launch of PeterLuger.com. It is easy to understand why Peter Luger is nominated for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Online Meat Company.

Peter Luger Steak House offers only the finest USDA PRIME meat available. The selection process is crucial and is done only by members of the family who visit the wholesale markets on a daily basis.

Gallery: Peter Luger Steak House

A new online ordering service allows Peter Luger customers to order its famous USDA Prime Dry Aged Steaks, including its famous Porterhouse cuts. All meat packages are shipped via FedEx Overnight. Shipping rates are calculated upon check out after the shipping destination has been entered. All shipping is done Monday through Thursday. Meat orders received by 11AM will be shipped that same day for next day delivery. All orders received after 11AM Thursday will be shipped overnight the following Monday.

Peter Luger Steak Sauce is world-famous and can be ordered online. It is available in boxes of six ($34.20 a box, plus shipping) or twelve bottles ($57.90 plus shipping). The online butcher shop also offers steak knives and cutting boards.

Vote for the Online Meat Company that you believe is the best of breed. The voting period runs through July 31 and winners will be announced on August 1.

Tags: awards-main, best online meat, best steaks, luxist-awards, online shopping, Peter Luger, Peter Luger Steak House, steak, steakhouse, steaks

Ottomanelli Brothers: Serving the Finest Meats in New York Since 1900

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Services

Since 1900 Ottomanelli Brothers, a nominee for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Online Meats, has been catering to the carnivores of New York City, with its unbeatable steaks, filet mignon, steak burgers, prime rib, lamb, veal, seafood and more. Savvy New Yorkers traveling throughout New England are easily spotted by the Ottomanelli's green thermal bags they carry, which are filled with the butcher's delicious steaks, steak burgers, chicken, sausages and more. As Ottomanelli die-hards can attest, once you've been spoiled by eating Ottomanelli's meats, it is impossible to dine on anything else.

A family-owned and operated business that dates back to 1900, members of the Ottomanelli family are still found clad in their white aprons behind the counters of their butcher shops. Today under the leadership of the fourth and fifth generation of Ottomanelli's, products are enjoyed by discerning consumers across the country and around the world. Family patriarchs and co-chairmen, Nicolo and Joseph Ottomanelli are credited with turning the family meat business into a multifaceted mini-empire, which includes meat markets, cafes, packaged goods, bakeries and a thriving online operation.

Gallery: Ottomanelli Brothers

The Ottomanelli brothers butcher shops are located on the upper east and upper west sides of Manhattan with a third location located in Flushing, N.Y. New Yorkers who'd rather sit down and order a delicious grilled steak can frequent one of the family's restaurant locations on Manhattan's upper east side.

All products are flash frozen and packed with dry ice in a reusable "keep fresh" cooler and shipped via FedEx Priority Overnight Service. Ottomanelli's also offers a selection of BBQ sauces (hot and mild are both offered), delicious steak sauce and wonderful pasta sauces (including marinara, white clam, red clam and Alfredo varieties). Orders can be placed online or by calling Ottomanelli's toll free number at (888) OTTOBRO.

Vote for the Online Meat Company that you believe is the best of breed. The voting period runs through July 31 and winners will be announced on August 1.

Tags: awards-main, best online meat, luxist-awards, Ottomanelli Brothers, Ottomanellis, steak

Allen Brothers: Where Some of the Best-Known Steakhouses Get Their Meat

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Services

Ever wonder where some of the nation's best-known steakhouses get their meat? Restaurants including Morton's The Steakhouse, Gene & Georgetti, Charlie Trotter's, Emeril's Chop House, Lawry'sThe Prime Rib and others have long relied on Allen Brothers for the USDA Prime beef and other fine meats on which their reputations depend.

Chicago-based Allen Brothers is a nominee for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Online Meat, and it is easy to understand why. A fourth-generation family-owned company, with its origins in the heart of Chicago's fabled Union Stockyards, Allen Brothers is known for its "best of the best" USDA Prime aged beef and as the home of "The Great Steakhouse Steaks." Meats are hand-selected, meticulously aged by proprietary methods and hand-cut by master butchers. Both dry-aged and wet-aged beef steaks are available.

Gallery: Allen Brothers: The Great Steakhouse Steaks

Its Wet-Aged and Dry-Aged products are Grain/Corn Fed, while its Pintades/Poulet Fermier Breasts are Free Range. Its veal comes from humanely-raised calves that are never given growth hormones or antibiotics.

Allen Brothers' partnership with Emeril Lagasse, is responsible for Red Marble Steaks, which is a highly marbled beef. Allen Brothers also offers an impressive line of Kobe Wagyu Beef products, from filet mignon and strip steaks to Korean beef short ribs and Wagyu steak burgers.

Tags: Allen Brothers, awards-main, best online meat, Chicago, emeril lagasse, luxist-awards, steak

Continue reading “Allen Brothers: Where Some of the Best-Known Steakhouses Get Their Meat”

Chicago Gourmet Steaks: A Reputation at Steak

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Services

Chicago Gourmet Steaks is a nominee for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Online Meat Company.

Chicago Gourmet Steaks has ties back to 1919 and the Chicago Union Stockyards. Its parent company was an icon in the Chicago Union Stockyards. Lincoln Meat Co. was created in 1919 and operated as a beef slaughterhouse through the peak and decline of the Chicago Union Stockyards, and was actually the last beef slaughterhouse in the city of Chicago. Chicago Gourmet Steaks was created and was one of the first few mail order steak company's.

Chicago Gourmet Steaks hand selects primal cuts of beef from quality corn-fed Midwestern cattle. Its corn-fed, Midwestern beef is USDA inspected and naturally aged for 18-21 days for exceptional taste and ultimate tenderness. No water, fillers, preservatives, chemicals or coloring are ever used. Its expert butchers carefully cut the steak, exactly to a customer's order specifications.

Gallery: Chicago Gourmet Steaks

Steaks are individually packaged in an air-tight vacuum sealed poly bag. Steaks are then flash-frozen to lock in freshness and flavor. Finally, the steaks are carefully boxed and placed in a cooler with dry-ice, and shipped.

Orders can be placed online or by calling (800) 997-8325.

Vote for the Online Meat Company that you believe is the best of breed. The voting period runs through July 31 and winners will be announced on August 1.

Tags: awards-main, best online meat, chicago, Chicago Gourmet Steaks, luxist-awards, steak

Local Luxury: Top Six Fine Dining Restaurants in Tampa, Florida

by Sheryl Young (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

As a Tampa resident for over twenty years, I've had the gastronomical pleasure of experiencing these fine dining establishments. Trade those beach shorts for something more cosmopolitan, and come hungry.

Here's my rating scale: $$ - Comparatively Inexpensive. $$$ - More Expensive. $$$$ - Very Expensive. Upscale = dress nice. Chic = dress to kill.

Charley's Steakhouse
(813) 353-9706
4444 West Cypress Street, Tampa, 33607.
Upscale $$$$. Charley's has graced Tampa since 1974 with a quiet, sophisticated ambiance. The service is as upscale as the clothes. Everyone should be waited on like this at least once in their lives. Cozy and elegant, chandelier-decked setting. The specialties are mouth-watering cuts of steak and Surf & Turf.
Rated number 5 out of the Top 10 Steak Restaurants in the U.S. at Prime Top 10, a list of America's Finest USDA Prime Steakhouses & Restaurants.
Reservations not usually needed.

Mitchell's Fish Market
(813) 289-3663
204 Westshore Plaza, Tampa, 33609.
Upscale $$$. Mitchell's is reminiscent of the classy mid-nineteenth and twentieth century 'men only' dining clubs. But women are allowed, of course. All varnished wood and frosted glass with some miniature ships on display. Mitchell's hasn't been in Tampa that long (several years), but it's made a name for itself. The broiled tilapia is succulent, for one. The seafood-many varieties obtained from one coast to the other-is always fresh, never frozen. A relaxed, classy ambiance. Reservations not needed.

Tags: finedining, Florida, restaurants, seafood, steak, Tampa

Continue reading “Local Luxury: Top Six Fine Dining Restaurants in Tampa, Florida”

A Guide to Meat Cuts

by Andrea Hangst (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

When it comes to grilling a steak, many home cooks often think that they can quickly run to the grocery store, pick any cut or steak they see, and just slap it on a hot grill and - voila! - a good dinner. However, many of us who have tried this have inevitably run afoul of the Great Beef Gods, with cinder-dry steaks or tough hunks of gray meat. Here is a very simple list of great cuts of beef for grilling, and the best ways to prepare them.

Steaks for One or Two

Filet Mignon: Butter soft, boneless and best served rare to medium-rare, this tenderloin steak is considered a delicacy. From the short loin, these exceptionally tender steaks are ideal for the high-heat sear of the grill because they are best served between rare and medium in doneness for best flavor. While filet mignon is famous for its tenderness, it lacks the deep meaty flavor and richness of the rib eye and strip steak. Consider topping the steak with a dab of butter after grilling.

New York Strip: Another meaty, big-flavored grilling classic, the New York Strip is cut from the tender short loin of the cow. Less marbled than a rib eye, but with a thick band of fat around the edge, the strip steak sears beautifully using direct heat over hot coals.

Porterhouse: The Porterhouse, like its little brother, the T-Bone, is a highly prized, and highly priced, cut. One half of this steak is the New York Strip, while the small meaty bit on the other side is a filet, cut from the tenderloin. These steaks come from the extra-tender "short loin" of the cow, which is located on the steer's middle-back. The meat is highly marbled and usually quite tender. They are excellent for grilling or quickly seared over hot coals and finished slowly over indirect heat. Marinating and seasoning can vary, but just sprinkling salt and pepper on it prior to putting it on the grill can also suffice.

Rib Eye: Arguably the champion of the grill, the rib eye steak is tender, flavorful and marbled with fat. The rib eye - named as such because it is the center cut of the rib section of the cow - are extremely flavorful but benefit from a good marinade. These can come bone-in or bone-out, or with a giant bone sticking out also called a "Tomahawk." Choose the bone-in rib eye to ensure a juicy, complex flavor. Most steak lovers prefer their meat served rare to medium-rare; this cut can even stand up to extra cooking time and still be richly flavored.

Tags: Beef, Cooking, Food, grill tips, Grilling, grillt ips, GrillTips, luxist-awards, main-pedia, meat, meat cuts, MeatCuts, outdoor-entertainment-pedia, Steak

Continue reading “A Guide to Meat Cuts”

Expensive Steak Dinners Start with Wagyu

by Anton Friant (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

With a mere 24 hours until all we United Statesians (right?) exercise our civic duty and vote our collective conscience in the midterm elections, what could be more downright Red White and Blue than energizing our lever-pulling (or button-pushing) muscles with an outrageously lavish steak dinner? These $33 per ounce (and up) cuts – that's over $250 for an 8-ouncer – come from a breed of cattle that are traditionally called "Wagyu", but have been dubbed "American Kobe" after a few herds have been imported to Idaho from rural Japan. These ultra-marbled cuts, which Chef de Cuisine David Varley refers to as having "an ungodly amount of fat", attain their lofty price from the lengthy raising period (up to four times longer than American Angus), special diets and, as legend suggests, a daily full-body message from their human handlers.