The Steak World’s ‘Portrait of Dorian Gray’When the first thing we hear about a piece of meat is that “it doesn’t taste at all like Roquefort cheese,” we tend not to get overly excited. But when it’s Shane McBride talking, we stop and listen. Craftsteak holds the record for the longest-aged steaks in New York, topping out, until recently, at a ridiculous 56 days. (That’s about twice as long as the standard month, which itself is a rarity in this day and age.) Now the chef has taken to serving strip steaks aged for truly unheard-of lengths of time — including one that went 78 days before cooking. We’d assume that such extreme mummification would result in the meat taking on a ghoulish funk, but McBride assures us otherwise.
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Damon Wise, Now Officially the Man at Craft, Brings in Shane McBride
Restaurant Girl reported earlier today that Shane McBride, formerly of 7Square (RIP), had been hired as the chef at Craftsteak, taking over for Chris Albrecht, apparently nudged out in January. Craft emperor Tom Colicchio set the record straight with us: “Here’s the deal,” he tells us. “For the last three months, Damon Wise has been the acting chef at Craftsteak and has completely changed the way things are done there: the suppliers, the menu, everything. Shane has been hired specifically to execute the menu that Damon created. Damon has worked his ass off day and night, and I want him to get credit for that.” Done and done.
Mediavore
The Coffee Shop Open Again; Marcus Samuelsson Heading to Meatpacking?With Gordon Ramsay, DB Bistro Moderne, and others, room service has recently gotten a lot more ambitious — though not necessarily successful. [NYT]
The Coffee Shop is back in business after its brief and much-publicized closure. [NYP]
Once they move into Sascha, the brothers behind PM plan to put Aquavit’s Marcus Samuelsson in charge of the kitchen. [Eater]
Related: PM Owners to Open Harlem Restaurant, Bistro-Bakery-Club in Sascha Space
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7Square Closing This Very Minute7Square, a “modern chophouse” we’re fond of, has suddenly and unexpectedly gone under. The restaurant will close after lunch today, we’re told by a source from within the restaurant, owing more to financial complications than the restaurant’s ability to lure customers. The close might be billed as temporary, but our source insists the doors will be shut for good. If only we hadn’t made plans to scarf lunch at our desk.
Earlier:
A Modern Chophouse’s Roman Excess [Grub Street]
Adam Platt’s review [NYM]
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Show Them the Money: New York Chefs Make New Year’s Resolutions
Being typical office drones, our New Year’s resolutions were fairly predictable: lose weight, use our time better, quit freebasing Lipitor. Thankfully, a few of the city’s chefs have shared some of theirs with us.
Foodievents
California-France Rematch in Historic Wine BattleA dinner at 7 Square next Tuesday commemorates one of the great moments in U.S. wine history: the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. The “Judgment of Paris,” as it’s called by grape geeks, was an epochal event — it was the first time that California wines met French wines on their own turf and emerged victorious. To honor this great victory, Manhattan Wine Company (a private storage facility for high-powered wine collectors — isn’t that fancy!) will break out five 1986 Bordeaux with five 1986 California wines of comparable character and pair two at a time with each course in chef Shane McBride’s robust menu. (The final dish comes with four different glasses, yeah!) Read on for the lineup. $250 per person. Contact the Manhattan Wine Company at 973-243-8700 for reservations.
Openings
A Modern Chophouse’s Roman Excess
In theory, a chophouse is a pretty simple place. You go there to eat chops, pork, and otherwise. But such isn’t the case at 7 Square, the “American chophouse” from Venezuelan-born, Tokyo-based restaurateur Alvaro Perez. The chef, Lespinasse alum Shane McBride, is known for his ornate, rarefied cookery and standards that are “a little more modern.”
