It's not just for vignerons anymore

When Luger's is on, their steak can be the best in the world. However, I've found them very hit or miss the past 5-8 years.

Aside from Lugers, I have to say the best steak I've ever had was at Asador Lopez de Aguileta, a small restaurant in Labastida, Spain.

A Flannery rib cap steak Sarah Kirschbaum recently made was also stellar.
 
originally posted by Cory Cartwright:
Funny, the best burger I've ever had was with a group of vignerons at Peter Lugers.
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That burger is terrific, but go down a couple of blocks to Diner and get a better one.
 
I hadn't been to Peter Luger's in at least 20 years when I went there last spring with my wife, and boy were we disappointed a big, well- grilled, rare steak, very tender and juicy, but no minerality or depth, and overall little flavor. Oldtimers like me, with vivid memories of steak in NYC since the early 1960s, really felt and still feel the sudden dip in beef quality which occurred in the late 1970s when the USDA relaxed its requirements for obtaining the Prime Beef category. It's a worldwide problem: all over the place, the animals they butcher are way too young and not properly fed or exercised.
 
originally posted by Thor:
Now I'll be the contrarian and object to any praise of McD's fries. They haven't been good since the cooking medium changed, the powdered salt is nasty, and they're never cooked enough. Though it's probably true that my sampling size isn't all that high. They're better than In-n-Out's, but that's not difficult.

Foreman was a good boxer. Not so much with the culinary tech.

More important than grass/grain-fed (strictly on taste, not environmental/agribusiness concerns) are the age and proximity/transport of the meat, for sure. And the cooking.

Luger may or may not be the king of American steak (I've yet to experiment with whatshisname in Marin), though I'll note that I've had sourced-down-the-road steaks back home in northern Minnesota that I remember as being just as good (clearly, double-blind trials are required*) but the chuletn at Extebarri was a clear margin better than Luger.

*You're welcome, Levi.
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Brian Flannery in Marin sells some mighty fine aged prime beef but I'm just as impressed with his pork chops. If you can ask for Brian, he's a good guy who likes to chat and as a rule is very candid about what he's selling.
 
originally posted by Lou Kessler:
Brian Flannery in Marin sells some mighty fine aged prime beef but I'm just as impressed with his pork chops. If you can ask for Brian, he's a good guy who likes to chat and as a rule is very candid about what he's selling.
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Completely agree. His meat is pricey, but the quality is superb. That rib cap I had recently was just stunning and who could forget those Flannery pork chops a la BettyLu the last time I was at Chez Lou?
 
originally posted by VS:
I hadn't been to Peter Luger's in at least 20 years when I went there last spring with my wife, and boy were we disappointed a big, well- grilled, rare steak, very tender and juicy, but no minerality or depth, and overall little flavor. Oldtimers like me, with vivid memories of steak in NYC since the early 1960s, really felt and still feel the sudden dip in beef quality which occurred in the late 1970s when the USDA relaxed its requirements for obtaining the Prime Beef category. It's a worldwide problem: all over the place, the animals they butcher are way too young and not properly fed or exercised.
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The meat served by Peter Luger has nothing whatsoever to do with the USDA's standards for Prime. Luger is famous for selecting only the best of the best and rejecting anything that doesn't meet its standards even if it does meet the USDA's.

You must have had an off-cow. It happens.
 
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:

Luger is famous for selecting only the best of the best and rejecting anything that doesn't meet its standards even if it does meet the USDA's.

You must have had an off-cow. It happens.
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Yes, I have always known about Luger's purportedly fanatical attention to quality. But since I haven't had one really good steak in NYC for many years (and that includes the slew of generally lauded Manhattan chop houses from Sparks to Wolfgang), I have reached the conclusion that the American restaurant-going public has now adapted to the generally lowered standards, with very few remembering the, say, pre-1977 days, and Luger standing out in comparison with the rest, not because of its quality in absolute terms. When I eat at Etxebarri, Ansorena or Casa Julin, or at El Capricho of course, I find (not always beef is the most inconsistent of food staples in today's world) the depth and intensity of flavors I no longer find in NYC. Back in 1975 I did at Luger's, and at The Palm, and at the Old Homestead.
 
originally posted by Brad Kane:
originally posted by Cory Cartwright:
Funny, the best burger I've ever had was with a group of vignerons at Peter Lugers.
Click to expand...

That burger is terrific, but go down a couple of blocks to Diner and get a better one.
Click to expand...

it's crazy, i go to diner maybe once every 10 days, and have never had the burger...

haven't enjoyed sparks for years, ever since they expanded...
 
originally posted by scottreiner:
originally posted by Brad Kane:
originally posted by Cory Cartwright:
Funny, the best burger I've ever had was with a group of vignerons at Peter Lugers.
Click to expand...

That burger is terrific, but go down a couple of blocks to Diner and get a better one.
Click to expand...

it's crazy, i go to diner maybe once every 10 days, and have never had the burger...

haven't enjoyed sparks for years, ever since they expanded...
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You really should try it. Great burger. One of the best.

My last two experiences at Sparks weren't that good foodwise. The steak was nothing like it was when Kay Bixler and I went there about 11-12 years ago.
 
originally posted by lars makie:
originally posted by VS:
they came to eat at El Bulli and wound up discovering that beef is good here.
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I just remembered reading in Bill Buford's Heat that Dario Cecchini, the Tuscan butcher he worked for, said the beef in his store was actually from Spain. That he felt it was superior to the beef in the area.
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As I recall, that was more of a comment on the sad lack of decent beef in Tuscany than anything else. And a closely held secret. There's nwih he'd have been looking elsewhere if he could have found something acceptable locally.

It's a function of taking a decent set of cattle, from a 'meat' breed, and feeding/raising them right, right? They should do that in Spain, and there's no reason they shouldn't be able to even do it in France, though like Claude I've also heard French people saying American beef is better.
 
originally posted by Thor:

All I know is that, should Mr. Lipton come to visit, he's probably getting a burger.
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He's coming, but no burgers unless he orders the seafood burger. Better stuff on the Malibu Seafood menu to be had IMO, but maybe he's in the mood for surimi and who am I to tell him he's wrong?

Good burgers to be had around LA at Comme a, Eva, The Nook, et al but I don't tend to order beef in other forms except at Totaraku, where they don't really offer much else and it's of incredible quality (and priced accordingly). ON the other hand, a properly aged ribeye grilled at home with some properly aged balsamic drizzled on top certainly hits the spot, particularly when chased with a simvastatin cap or two.

-Eden (waiting for the tsunami to show up but for now there are just raindrops)
 
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