This is about the 4th article I have seen over the past year of customer comparisons. None have presented Kobe as better...just Angus as equal.
Nothing scientific...but interesting.
Should we be getting more for our efforts?
"Food Buzz: Craftsteak's Beef Race, Ditch Plains's Oyster Shots
May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak, which opened last Tuesday in the meatpacking district, serves what could be the most expensive piece of beef in New York City: a $240, 64-ounce Black Angus prime rib.
Those with slightly less cash to burn can try a 32-ounce Wagyu beef porterhouse for $220.
The rest of us can enjoy an excellent three-course meal for about $150 a person.
Craftsteak's flagship opened at Las Vegas's MGM Grand in 2004. Although that one's nestled amid casinos, this spacious, 230-seat venue has floor-to-ceiling windows that show off the Hudson River and West Side Highway.
On the night of the Kentucky Derby, I roped in two other meat-eaters to conduct what we hoped was the world's first Triple Steak challenge.
We pitted grass-fed, corn-fed and Wagyu beef against one another. Craftsteak offers all three types -- in multiple cuts.
As at Colicchio's Craft in the Flatiron district, Craftsteak diners construct their meals from an almost painfully large and constantly changing selection of hyper-seasonal food.
About 40 appetizers, 20 steaks (plus other unbeef options) and 24 sides are available on the current menu. Having opted for a corn-fed strip steak, you still need to choose from five different vintages that have been aged 28, 35, 42, 49 and 56 days.
Different Steaks
We chose a grass-fed strip ($39), a 42-day corn-fed strip ($54) and an eight-ounce Wagyu flatiron (at $49 the only affordable option in that category).
All three steaks lived up to their texture stereotypes.
The Wagyu beef was tender to the point of creaminess. The grass-fed strip had a muscular heft that required a committed chew. The 42-day corn-fed strip was twice as tender as a typical 28-day example; it was barely chewier than a tenderloin.
Flavors were surprising. Colicchio doesn't broil his meats with volcanic heat; instead, they are seared, then roasted at 350 degrees. This process deprives Craftsteak's beef of the incinerated crust found on many steakhouse steaks. Many will miss the burnt flavor, but others -- including this diner -- will not.
The Wagyu cut had the same liverish, almost iodine tang that hanger-steak fanatics swear by and the rest of us swear off.
The grass- and corn-fed strips were impressively beefy, but any further nuance was obliterated by tenacious herbs sprinkled over both cuts.
No Clear Winner
Each of us favored a different steak. Accordingly, we declared the first annual Triple Steak challenge a tie.
Dinner for three, which included two cocktails, grilled Hawaiian prawns, Plymouth Bay oysters, fava-bean salad, three big-but-not-too-big steaks, hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, garlic- spiked potato gratin, ramps, brioche ``monkey bread'' dessert, rhubarb tart, and eight wines by the glass, cost a reasonable $397.
Craftsteak is at 85 10th Ave., near 15th Street; (1)(212) 400-6699..................
......................To contact the writer of this column: Ryan Sutton in New York at
[email protected] ."
