The Annotated Dish

Per Se’s Super-Precise Summer Steak Salad


The menu at Per Se changes almost every night, but Jonathan Benno keeps turning out this delicate, summery Wagyu-steak salad. Though technically chef de cuisine, Benno in fact runs the kitchen; Thomas Keller has recently called it “a Jonathan Benno restaurant,” and the younger man’s mania for detail has helped make the place one of the city’s top restaurants. This carefully formulated salad, in which seemingly simple ingredients are calibrated to complement the seared beef, is pure Benno. As usual, mouse over each arrow for the chef’s description of that element.

Photo: Melissa Hom

Per Se’s Super-Precise Summer Steak Salad