Steakhouses are sprucing up their menus. No longer is it acceptable just to have dry or wet aged beef. Guests are demanding, and receiving, sustainably raised, grass-fed products prepared with upscale techniques like cold-smoking and sous vide. TravelsinTaste found six steakhouse trends popping up in Las Vegas and spoke with some of the city’s top steakhouse chefs about them.
The first? Natural grilling methods. Top chef judge Tom Colicchio brought his passion for cooking with fire to the Strip with his Heritage Steak which focuses on meats prepared entirely over an open flame – from wood-burning ovens to charcoal grills. So who better than Anthony Zappola, his executive chef, to demonstrate this trend. Zappola explained, “The standard guest nowadays simply demands a quality, organic meal with outstanding taste. We deliver this through natural cooking methods, the original concept behind Heritage Steak. Our steaks are prepared over an open wood flame, rather than a gas grill that can add a dominant char to the meat. The wood-burning grill gives the beef a wonderfully unique roasted flavor and allows us to highlight the exceptional quality of our product.”
Next up? Sustainably raised and grass-fed beef products. Michelin three-star, James Beard Award-winning chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten has rewritten the steakhouse with his decidedly contemporary Jean Georges Steakhouse. Executive Chef Robert Moore told us, “At Jean Georges Steakhouse we’re taking the next step in artisanal, small-farm sourcing by not only offering grass-fed and free-range beef, but now moving toward serving an all-natural product. The fats in these steaks are healthier and they won’t give you that ‘food hangover’ associated with hormone-injected meat. The beef we serve is not only what guests want, it’s what they should be eating.”
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