Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published 11/3/05 Click here for the current edition Where's The Beef? Restaurants continue to re-open at an agreeable pace, but one category is conspicuously still without any noteworthy players. We have no major steakhouses in our town. Think about it. Both Ruth's Chris. Crescent City. Dickie Brennan's. Mr. John's. Charlie's. Chateaubriand. Morton's. Smith and Wollensky. All still closed. I've been in contact with most of them, and most of them say they will return. Only two are in doubt: Chateaubriand (chef-owner Gerard Crozier is consulting for Mr. Mudbug's big food operation in Hammond now) and Smith and Wollensky. I don't count either of them out yet, and I hope they return, but the buzz is negative. The rumors about Ruth's Chris are unfounded. They say they will absolutely re-open both restaurants, including Broad Street. There is no reason not to believe this. Ruth's Chris on Broad is one of the city's most profitable restaurants; for them, the only question is whether to rebuild or renovate. If I could give somebody a nudge, I'd say that if Mr. John's on St. Charles Avenue--which always was one of the best steakhouses around, serving all prime beef with sizzling butter, New Orleans style--were to reopen, it would finally get the attention it deserves. The steak-eating public is starving for a great steakhouse! In the meantime, there's nothing to stop us from cooking our own. I've grilled a few steaks since I got back, and the best of them is in the recipe later in today's newsletter. © 2005 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com