Vegas Strip Steak

By The Numbers – Here’s What People Think About The New Vegas Strip Steak

stripmin — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 21:24:14 +0000

Linette Lopez| Aug. 7, 2012, 12:29 PM

Before you put a new, widely untested cut of steak in your mouth, you should hear what people in-the-know are saying about it.

That’s why we’ve been following this steak story so closely. The Vegas Strip steak is the new, moderately priced cut of steak that industry experts unveiled in Chicago this April. These masters of meat discovered a new way to cut the cow that hadn’t been seen before and it’s just now being rolled out across the country.

In fact, New York City’s local celebrity butcher, Pat La Freida bought some for his shop.

But none of that matters as much as what people think about how the Vegas strip tastes. And we need data! Something scientific! Numbers!

Luckily the ranchers and meat producers of Wichita Falls, Texas took a pretty rigorous poll on the matter, the Times Record News reports. They were trying to figure out whether they should start cutting and selling the steak themselves, and their decision was based on a number metrics including juiciness, taste, profitability…

You get the picture.

So lets go down the list and check out the results:

Is the steak “acceptable?”: 85.4% of those polled said it was acceptable or extremely acceptable and 100% confirmed the steak was at least average.
Is the steak tender?: 96.7% responded that the steak was at least average for tenderness and 14.7% said the steak was extremely tender.
Is the steak juicy?: respondents rated the steak average or above 88.7% of the time.
Is the steak flavorful?: 100%of the respondents called the steak at least average, 79% said the flavor of the steak was desirable or extremely desirable.
Would you order it at a restaurant?: 96.7% said they would.
How much would you spend on this steak while eating out?: 26 percent said $10.51 to $12.50, and 8 percent more said up to $15.

According to the Times Record News, one meat producer said, “Yep, I’d take that steak to the grill.” Coming from someone who could stake their career on it (pun intended) that’s saying something.

Alright, we’re ready to taste it. Bring on the Vegas Strip Steak.

Vegas Strip Steak could be in supermarkets soon

stripmin — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 16:56:42 +0000

By Heidi Knapp Rinella
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Posted: Jul. 11, 2012 | 2:03 a.m.

If you’re thinking of throwing a steak on the backyard grill, there are a whole bunch of choices.

Maybe it’ll be a rib-eye this time. Or a New York strip, or a filet mignon. Porterhouse? Delmonico? T-bone? How about a Vegas Strip Steak?

Well, you won’t find the last one in your supermarket meat case today or tomorrow, but if Tony Mata has his way, its appearance there may not be too far off.

So who is Tony Mata and what is the Vegas Strip Steak? The former is easier to answer than the latter.

Mata is a meat scientist who refers to himself as one of a group of Meat Geeks. As an independent consultant for 18 years, he’s been studying “underutilized areas of the beef carcass.”

Here’s the thing: The steer may use all parts of its physical being, but the meat industry, not so much. Mata explained that the beef carcass is cut up into a finite number of steaks; the rest becomes roasts or is turned into things such as ground beef. Obviously, a pound of steak is going to mean more to the producer than a pound of ground meat or even a pound of roast.

Enter the meat scientist. Back in ’97, Mata said, he introduced the petite tender to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

“Now, 100 percent of it is consumed as steak, as opposed to chuck roast or ground beef,” he said.

Mata said he also developed the flatiron steak. But he was convinced that there was another one out there.

“I was looking at underutilized areas of the carcass, primarily the chuck and the round,” Mata said. “Four years ago, I started looking at obscure, off-the-path muscles. I really enjoy exploring that interesting carcass.”

Yes, a Meat Geek.

You have to consider, Mata said, “what makes a steak a steak.” The consumer, he said, is looking for tenderness, juiciness, appearance, flavor and aroma. Tenderness, he said, is the quality that’s most challenging for the industry. Of the 450 muscles in a beef carcass, maybe 10 percent are tender; those usually end up as rib-eye steaks or New York strips, he said.

Three times, Mata thought he had found a muscle that represented a promising new steak cut, but none of them panned out.

“Then I came across this one,” Mata said. “From the beginning, I realized, ‘Wow.’ I came across this one and I realized that I better get some help.”

He partnered with Oklahoma State University, which has not only meat-processing experts but also an intellectual-property center.

“They convinced me that this item could be protected,” Mata said, and he applied for a patent.

Compared to the petite tender, the new steak has a better shape and is more uniform in thickness, he said. It cooks more uniformly, is more tender and has better flavor.

“Aging improves tenderness,” he said. “This one hardly needs any aging. At seven days, it’s ready.”

But, Mata said, “the majority of us meat scientists are lousy cooks,” and so he sent samples of the new steak to 10 independent chefs. Feedback was good; the chefs said it reminded them of the New York strip in shape, flavor and tenderness.

And then, he said, there was the question: “What do we call it?”

“It’s as difficult to come up with a good name as a good steak,” Mata said. “We’ve come up with some pretty strange names.”

Because it was somewhat similar to a New York strip, the Vegas Strip Steak was born. The steak even has its own website, www.VegasStripSteak.com.

As for pricing, Mata said he thinks the Vegas Strip Steak should be positioned between the petite tender and the New York strip. Sizes can range from 5 to 6 ounces, to 8 to 10 ounces or 10 to 14 ounces. Even at the level of USDA Prime, it doesn’t exceed 4½ percent fat, he noted.

“It has the flavor but it doesn’t have the calories,” he said.

Marketing is in the earliest stages; he’s looking at launch possibilities. Currently, the steak is served at the 13th Street Grill in Boise, Idaho, and at David Burke’s Primehouse in Chicago.

But not in Las Vegas.

“That,” Mata said, “is in the planning.”

Contact reporter Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0474.

*NOTE from The Vegas Strip Steak Team: We would like to clarify this steak is not intended for sale at retail. It will only be available to the food service industry.

Major Beef

stripmin — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 17:28:01 +0000

There’s a new steak in town — the Vegas strip — and it’s vying for a piece of the local action. But is it a contender, or merely a pretender to our beloved hometown cut?

By CLAUDINE KO

Last Updated: 11:08 AM, July 10, 2012
Posted: 11:07 PM, July 9, 2012

Chef Harold Moore is experimenting with a slab of steak inside the kitchen at his contemporary American restaurant Commerce, tucked away on a crooked street in Greenwich Village. He peels off the meat’s clear plastic sheath, which has been used to cook it in a low-temperature water bath, sous-vide style.

“It eats best at rare, but beyond that it gets tough,” says Moore, explaining why he chose this forgiving French technique.

Next, a familiar hiss and crackle erupts as he sears the steak in a hot frying pan, deepening its pallor into a rich molasses. It looks just like a classic New York strip, is just as tender and smells like one, too — only it’s not.

Get ready, New Yorkers. There’s a new meat in town, and it’s called the “Vegas strip.” Billed as a leaner and cheaper alternative to the world-famous New York strip, the shoulder cut is jumping into the ring — and local restaurateurs are betting it’s a winner.

“No one even knows what it is yet, and they want it,” says Pat

LaFrieda Jr., CEO of Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors, the sole distributors of the Vegas strip in the tri-state area. Late last month, he received his first 10 cases — roughly 250 pounds — and landed three customers: Moore’s Commerce, where it’s being served with crushed potatoes, chanterelles and old-fashioned bordelaise sauce ($26); Kin Shop in Greenwich Village, where chef Harold Dieterle will sell it as a special, sliced and grilled over a Thai-style salad with chilies, cucumbers, red onions and mint ($25); and Hudson Street’s Red Farm, in its most popular dish, the spicy crispy beef ($16).

“Usually when you get a new cut of meat, it takes months to [catch on],” says LaFrieda. Case in point: The flat iron steak took about three years to gain traction, and when it did, circa 2001, its price doubled.

Since its debut, orders for the Vegas strip have already quintupled.

“Over the past five years, I’ve been playing with off-the-path, obscure muscles,” says Tony Mata, the Texas-based meat scientist who is staking claim to the Vegas-strip discovery. “Then I stumbled onto this one. It is not a cut that has an established identity.”

He won’t reveal the exact muscle, in hopes of patenting the roughly 14-ounce, ¾-inch-thick, yet very lean strip — which he says has tested in labs as having equal tenderness to a New York strip. But he will say it comes from the shoulder area of Black Angus cattle and, in recent history, has been going straight to the grind pile.

Some say it should stay there, pledging their allegiance to the city’s gold standard: the New York strip, a cut from the short loin that is both tender and also richly marbled.

“I’m unimpressed, to say the very least,” says executive chef John Schenk, who sells a 16-oz. boneless New York strip for $45 at Strip House on East 12th Street.

“We’re named after the New York strip. It’s the rock that the Strip House was built upon. I’m dealing with trying to find the greatest, well-marbled prime meats. The Vegas strip steak doesn’t offer anything to me. There was nothing there. I was like, ‘Uh, pass.’ ”

Willie Degel, owner of Uncle Jack’s Steakhouse, says the new Vegas cut amounts to a marketing ploy. “They try to wow and jazz it. I’m a purist. I love my dry-aged beef, and I’m going to sell that.”

Why the need for a new cut? According to LaFrieda, since 2008, the international demand for American prime meats has peaked, and our beef industry is now pushing for economy cuts that utilize all the parts of the cattle.

“The economy cuts that the butchers take home is the trend in beef now,” says LaFrieda.

One of the things that makes the Vegas strip so cost-efficient is that it reaches maximum tenderness after seven days — rather than three weeks for dry-aged prime meats.

“You can’t get a prime steak for less than $40 to $45, whereas you can easily have a 10-ounce. portion of the Vegas strip somewhere in the low $25-and-under range, which is nice,” says Dieterle.

“If it’s anywhere near as tender as a sirloin, I think it’ll be a hit,” says Bill Oliva, the executive chef at venerable Delmonico’s in the Financial District, who plans to try it. “Plus, we have the Grill Room, which is a little bit less expensive, so it might be a perfect fit.”

Still, Moore knows the Vegas strip is a gamble.

“Right now, it’s a sell,” says Moore, who reveals that the steak he’s serving is, in fact, not even a single piece of meat.

Rather, he fuses two strips using a gelatin-like substance derived from sea vegetables to mimic the girth of the Gotham competition. “The New York strip will sell itself. You need no marketing or coaxing. This is offering a beef option to someone looking to spend less money.”

Where else might it be a good fit?

“I hope it has a place in a steakhouse per se,” adds Schenk, “though more like an Applebee’s or a Chili’s.”

How do you discover a new cut of steak? An audio interview with Jake Nelson

stripmin — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 20:14:41 +0000

A great interview with Jake Nelson, a key player at the Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center (FAPC) at Oklahoma State University by John Carney, the food aficionado at St. Louis radio.

Click here to listen to the full audio interview

(Once you click on the link above a new browser window will open and the mp3 file will load.)

Please note, since this interview originally aired a 3rd supplier is now offering the Vegas Strip Steak and more restaurants have begun to offer the steak on their menus.

New cut of steak delivers on tenderness

stripmin — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 20:35:42 +0000

The Las Vegas strip steak is a new cut of steak developed by a team including meat specialists from Oklahoma State University’s Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center.

By SARA PLUMMER World Staff Writer
Published: 6/4/2012 2:24 AM
Last Modified: 6/4/2012 2:41 AM

While many people enjoy finding new ways to cook and prepare meals, Jake Nelson and Tony Mata have found a completely new steak for people to try out.

The two have developed a new cut of steak from a muscle historically used in ground beef and roasts.

Nelson is a meat processing specialist with Oklahoma State University’s Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Processing Center, and Mata is a meat specialist and consultant.

To read the complete article, click here

Double R Ranch Northwest Beef debuts Vegas Strip Steak™ cut

stripmin — Tue, 29 May 2012 16:46:02 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:  Alison Seibert, LANE PR, 212.302.5924, alison.seibert@lanepr.com

Restaurant Offers Customers First Taste of New Steak

Boise, ID. (May 24, 2012)— Double R Ranch Northwest Beef, a premium brand from Agri Beef Co., and Boise’s 13th Street Pub & Grill will make history on Thursday, May 24 with the restaurant debut of the new Vegas Strip Steak. The Vegas Strip Steak was developed by Tony Mata and Chef Rick Gresh in conjunction with Oklahoma State University’s Food & Agricultural Products Center and was unveiled to a select group of industry professionals earlier this year. Double R Ranch is one of only two producers in the nation authorized to cut and sell the new Vegas Strip Steak.

“We’re thrilled to partner with the 13th Street Pub & Grill to bring diners the country’s first Vegas Strip Steak,” said Terry Reynolds, Agri Beef Co. executive director of sales. “This steak offers our customers an innovative beef cut that is both tender and juicy, all at an affordable price point for consumers.”

The new cut is comparable to New York strip steak and boasts a tender, juicy flavor that doesn’t require aging or marinating. The extra lean and flavorful steak can be cut in a variety of sizes ranging from 4 ounces to 12 ounces, perfect for use in a wide range of food service and restaurant sectors.

“There is no doubt that this new cut delivers on all key attributes that consumers expect from a steak: tenderness, flavor, juiciness, and appearance,” says the steak’s creator and meat processing specialist, Tony Mata. “For a steak to become a reality, it must also provide value potential to all sectors of the industry from the farm to the table. The Vegas Strip Steak delivers on that as well.”

That value potential is exactly what drew 13th Street Pub & Grill in to the opportunity. Not only from the restaurant’s perspective, but in looking out for their customers, Scott Graves was intrigued from the start. “We have a discerning clientele that are looking for great food at a good price,” related Scott Graves, co-owner at 13th Street Pub & Grill. “This Vegas Strip has the potential appeal of a unique offering with great flavor and a fantastic eating experience. Just what we provide our customers.”

For more information, including product specifications, photos and pricing, call: Dave Murphy at 208-338-2500.

About Double R Ranch
Double R Ranch is a family-owned premium beef brand from the heart of the Pacific Northwest. The name Double R Ranch is a tribute to Agri Beef Co.’s founder, Robert Rebholtz Sr., whose integrity and passion for the cattle industry serves as a guiding principle of the company. The Double R Ranch is recognized for producing high-quality cattle, commitment to animal well-being and environmental stewardship, preservation of the landscape and native wildlife, and the recycling of resources to create a model for sustainable beef production. While the Double R Ranch cannot raise the numbers of cattle to support the beef brand alone, the 70,000-plus-acre ranch in the Okanogan region of Washington State is the heart and soul of the brand. Only premium beef that meets exacting criteria carries the Double R Ranch brand name. www.doublerranchbeef.com

About Agri Beef Co.
Robert Rebholtz Sr. founded Agri Beef Co. in 1968 in Boise, Idaho as a family owned ranching and cattle feeding operation. The company has since grown to incorporate every step of beef production, from ranching, cattle feeding and animal nutrition to beef processing, marketing and sales. Agri Beef Co.’s sustainable beef production model coordinates the efforts of all its business operations to responsibly produce the highest-quality meat products. The company’s operations are guided by the fundamental principles of sustainability, total quality, animal well-being and responsible business (known as the company’s STAR Commitment). www.agribeef.com

The Vegas Strip Steak™ now on the menu at David Burke’s Primehouse in Chicago, IL.

stripmin — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:49:12 +0000

We’ve been overwhelmed with consumer inquiries asking the big question, “Where can we taste this new steak?” Well folks, David Burke’s Primehouse is the first restaurant to offer the Vegas Strip Steak™ on its menu!

Chef Rick Gresh confirmed today what we’ve been eagerly anticipating, the newest steak is in his restaurant and ready to order.

We look forward to hearing what patrons have to say.

As new restaurants join the bandwagon, we will continue to (happily) spread the word!

Chef Rick Gresh Prepares The Vegas Strip Steak™

stripmin — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:01:33 +0000

Please wait while video loads. It may take a few moments. Enjoy!

Group claims breakthrough with discovery of new steak cut

stripmin — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:30:39 +0000

Originally Posted: May 8, 2012, Drovers Cattle Network
By Kylee Willard, FAPC Communications Services Graduate Assistant

On April 17, 2012, the Vegas Strip Steak was unveiled exclusively as the “newest” beef steak at the Protein Innovation Summit in Chicago, Ill.

“The Vegas Strip Steak is the latest and perhaps last steak to be found from the beef carcass,” said Jacob Nelson, Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center value-added meat processing specialist.

Nelson along with Tony Mata, Mata & Associates, and Rick Gresh, chef at David Burke’s Primehouse at The James Hotel in Chicago, Ill., arranged an invitation only dinner for the first sampling of the steak at the Trump International Hotel & Tower.

“The Vegas Strip Steak was well received by the audience,” Mata said. “They tasted it, loved it and applauded.”

With more than 30 years of beef carcass research and development, Mata, the self-proclaimed Meat Geek, approached Nelson and Oklahoma State University’s FAPC with the possibility of a new beef carcass cut.

“Initially, the cut was labeled as undervalued,” Mata said. “Whenever we can take a muscle and turn it into a steak rather than grinding it or selling it as a roast, we are adding value to the carcass.”

In the research and development phase, the Vegas Strip Steak was compared against the New York Strip, Petite Filet and Flat Iron Steak.

“This muscle produces a steak that is on par with or better than today’s most popular steaks,” Mata said.

Vegas Strip Steak attributes of tenderness, flavor and appearance appeal to consumers.

“The tenderness of the Vegas Strip Steak is comparable to the New York Strip Steak,” Mata said. “It does not require aging or marinating to achieve tenderness and its visual appeal enhances the steak eater’s overall enjoyment.”

The Mata-Nelson duo worked to perfect and patent the fabrication of the cut.

“This steak can be fabricated from 4 ounces to 12 ounces,” Nelson said. “Versatility of this steak allows it to be utilized across a wide range of food service sectors.”

To bring the find to fruition past harvesting, Mata met with Chef Gresh to verify culinary performance of the Vegas Strip Steak.

“I am excited about the opportunities this new steak brings to menus,” Gresh said.

With a patent pending, the cut has yet to be identified to the general public. However, two suppliers are fabricating the cut and interested parties can be licensed to use the cut.

“Given the history of the beef industry, the discovery of a new beef steak that has never before been fabricated and marketed could appear to be an impossibility,” Nelson said. “But the FAPC, together with Dr. Mata and Chef Gresh, have made this impossibility a reality.”

OSU involvement aids in discovery of the Vegas Strip Steak

stripmin — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:57:02 +0000

Originally Published: Thursday, 03 May 2012 15:35, Oklahoma State University News and Communications
From OSU Headlines

Efforts of Oklahoma State University’s Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center, department of animal science, Technology Development Center and The Ranchers Club restaurant has assisted in the discovery of the “newest” cut on the beef carcass.

“Given the history of the beef industry, the discovery of a new beef steak that has never before been fabricated and marketed could appear to be an impossibility,” said Jacob Nelson, FAPC value-added meat processing specialist. “The Vegas Strip Steak is the latest and perhaps last steak to be found on the beef carcass.”

With more than 30 years of beef carcass research and development, Tony Mata of Mata & Associates approached Nelson and the FAPC with the possibility of a new steak.

“Initially, the cut was labeled as undervalued,” Mata said. “This muscle produces a steak that is on par with or better than today’s most popular steaks.”

The FAPC extended a hand to Mata in the areas of technical assistance, facility availability and industry application.

“From coolers, freezers and cutting rooms to the on-site USDA inspectors, the staff and facility availability at the FAPC made this new steak find possible,” Nelson said. “It is the mission of the center to discover, develop and deliver technical and business support to spur growth of value-added food and agricultural products, and the FAPC did just that in this instance.”

Other university involvement trickled through OSU’s department of animal science, Technology Development Center and The Ranchers Club restaurant.

“The Vegas Strip Steak discovery required other OSU resources,” Nelson said. “The department of animal science provided some preliminary objective evaluation of beef steak tenderness attributes.”

Following the discovery of the muscle capable of producing a steak comparable to the New York Strip, the next step was to protect the beef carcass find. Steven Price, associate vice president for technology development of the Technology Development Center at OSU, assisted the team in protecting their find.

“Dr. Price and the Technology Development Center provided initial patent guidance and still assists with the varying aspects of intellectual property,” Nelson said.

Additionally, as part of OSU’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration and the College of Human Sciences, The Ranchers Club had a hand in preliminary preparation, plating and tasting of the new steak.

“The Ranchers Club prepared and hosted small tastings of the steak,” Nelson said. “Chef Pritchett and his culinary staff were very gracious in assisting in this process and did a tremendous job.”

As a result of the university-wide efforts, the Vegas Strip Steak took center stage for the first time at the Protein Innovation Summit in Chicago, Ill., on April 17, 2012.