Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris
Originally published January 31, 2008
A Short Steak Season
Everybody talks about the true meaning of Christmas. I want to talk about the true meaning of Mardi Gras.
You know that float near the beginning of the Rex parade with the cow and the butchers on it? It's been there for a century at least, and it tells the whole tale. An ox-tale.
The word "carnival" means "farewell to meat," as we head into Lent. This year, with Mardi Gras coming as early as it's possible to be, we had our meat-eating season cut short. And you don't have to order short ribs (about which more in a moment) to feel the impact.
It seems to me that one can't get into the true Carnival spirit without eating a steak (or two or three) in the days before Mardi Gras. I have a long-standing tradition of eating a top-notch steak on Mardi Gras day itself, and I recommend it to you. Anything would be better than the typical food found on Mardi Gras, and a prime sirloin strip at the Crescent City Steak House especially so.
I have been whistling this tune for many years, and I'm happy to report progress. The Crescent City, when I began going there for my Carnival steak, was empty. Last year (and for the past several) you needed a shoehorn, a crowbar, and a jar of Vaseline to get into the place, which sported something very rare in its history: a line outside in the parking lot, leading to a three-deep stack at the bar.
We are lucky enough to live in one of the three best steak towns in America. (New York and Chicago are the other two.) Prime beef is no newcomer to New Orleans, as it is for most other American cities. It's been the standard here since John Vojkovich opened his seminal Crescent City back in 1934.
Like the rest of the country, New Orleans has been invaded by an unstoppable trend in the American restaurant business: the swelling population of top-end steakhouses. The deluxe steakhouse gives anyone the chance to spend at the upper limits in a restaurant, without having to know anything about restaurants or wine or food. They offer high-pedigree beef and other raw materials prepared very simply, accompanied by gigantic portions of the most basic side dishes. That's something even a restaurant neophyte can understand.
As has been the case with most national chains, the steakhouses found rougher going here than in other cities, and for the same reason: we already had the segment covered with local restaurants. Indeed, until the storm the steak market was all but owned by the home-grown Ruth's Chris, now the world's largest premium steakhouse chain. Smith and Wollensky, whose New York steakhouse at times has been the biggest-volume restaurant of any kind in America, shot a blank here and got out of town after the storm. (Just when it was getting good.) As for Palm, Del Frisco's, Fleming's, and Sullivan's--all of which do well elsewhere--they haven't dared so much as to try to show up here.
That is no great loss. If you want a great steak, it can be had without much searching. You don't even have to go to a steakhouse to find it. Delmonico, Pascal's Manale, Antoine's, and Andrea's--to name a few--all have prime beef prepared superbly well, but you couldn't call any of those steakhouses.
Ten Best New Orleans Steakhouses
For the sake of the ten-best list below, please allow me to define a steakhouse. It's a restaurant where steak is the major attraction on the menu, even if the menu goes on to include other kinds of dishes. And where there's a variety of steak cuts, not just two or three methods of serving filets.
No regard is given to price in the ranking below. Note the ones designated as serving all prime beef. In the others, off-prime may also be served, especially when it comes to the filets.
1. Mr. John’s Ristorante. 2111 St. Charles Ave. 679-7697. Mr. John passed away last year, but the new owner is an alumnus of both Ruth's Chris and Emeril's, and the standards have remained high. Everything here is prime, served with New Orleans-style sizzling butter. The rest of the menu is Italian--a good matchup.
2. Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. 3633 Veterans Blvd., 888-3600. The steaks that made New Orleans famous for steak, now the largest steakhouse chain in the country. A bit diluted by corporate fiat, but still exciting.
3. Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse. 716 Iberville, 522-2467. All prime. A classy, masculine restaurant with a wide-ranging menu beyond steaks.
4. Keith Young's Steak House. Madisonville: 165 LA. 21, 985-845-9940. Spinning off from his family's Slidell restaurant, Keith himself tends the grill, and buys well-selected beef. A handsome restaurant with big crowds and great service.
5. Crescent City Steak House. 1001 N. Broad, 821-3271. All prime, dry-aged in house. The original New Orleans premium steakhouse, and the creator of the sizzling-in-butter presentation. After seventy-three years, almost unchanged in its quiet style. Terrible sides.
6. Morton's of Chicago. 365 Canal (Canal Place Mall), 566-0221. A beautiful, seductive restaurant serving prime beef (mostly) and other luxury meats and seafoods at luxurious prices, but with presentations the are simple to the point of boredom. Fortunately, they now make some good sauces.
7. La Boca. 857 Fulton, 525-8205. Chef Adolfo Garcia's recreation of the Argentina-style steakhouse, with the city's widest variety of cuts (including some really offbeat ones). Straightforward grilling, but amazing goodness. Superb sides and unusual appetizers.
8. Young's Steak House. Slidell: 850 Robert Blvd., 985-643-9331. Always crowded, with a very straightforward menu and cooking style, Young's puts out steaks of consistent goodness and is priced below comparable restaurants. At last, there's a sign on the building.
9. Beef Connection. Gretna: 501 Gretna Blvd., 366-3275. The legacy of Ruth's Chris (which once had a branch on this spot) lives on, with prime beef, sizzling, and good sides.
10. Shula's Steakhouse. J.W. Marriott Hotel, 614 Canal. 586-7211. The steaks are Certified Angus Beef, which in my opinion is not as good as USDA Prime. And the service has never been up to the prices the place charges. But the steaks are good, and so are the side dishes.
The Besh Steak House probably ought to be mentioned, since John Besh not only buys prime and ages it in house, but also features Kobe beef. But it's in the casino, and. . . well. . .
© 2008 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com