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Best Steaks in America - Top American Steaks - Esquire
The 20 Best Steaks in America
Buzz up!
From New York to San Francisco, Porterhouse to Philly Cheesesteak, John Mariani compiles a definitive list of the twenty best steaks in America. Get out the steak knives.
By John Mariani
This may be the last article worth reading about American steak. Great beef will soon be so expensive and so difficult to obtain that the dishes on this list will be available to even fewer people than they already are.
American prime beef at its best is the finest in the world. It has more flavor than Argentine beef from cows free-ranging around the pampas; French Charolais, bred for tenderness since A.D. 878; or Italian beef from the Val di Chiana region, which goes into the famous bistecca alla fiorentina. These cows feed on grass, and the meat isn't aged after slaughter. Most American cattle feed on corn, which might not please your doctor, but it bulks up the cows and gives them a sweet flavor, with a rich marbling of fat and a minerality enhanced through long, careful aging.
The problem is that what distinguishes American beef is what's leading to its demise. Increasing world demand for corn and the continuing misguided adventure into ethanol have combined to drive up the price. Ten years ago, corn sold for an average of about two dollars a bushel; right now, it's above seven dollars--a huge jump when you consider farm subsidies--and seven pounds are required to produce a pound of beef. So if you're paying forty-five dollars for a prime strip at your favorite steakhouse now, next year it might cost you sixty. And that's assuming the ever-multiplying deluxe steakhouse chains can even get enough prime. Don't bank on it.
Which is why this article may be your last best chance to seek out and eat the best beef in the world, cut by cut, dish by dish. But I hope not.
A note on the compilation:
In naming America's best steaks, which are presented below by cut, I considered two main criteria:
* Diversity of preparation. I probably could have filled half the list with rib eyes from California, but that's no fun. I wanted porterhouse, strip, Italian, Cajun, Japanese-style, chicken-fried, churrascos--steak in all its forms (even cheesesteak). Once I settled on a dish that fell into one of these essential categories, I pretty much moved on.
* Quality of meat. You will notice that the city of New York appears on the list far more than any other. This is due to the simple fact that most prime beef in this country--and prime only accounts for about 2 percent of beef overall--goes to New York steakhouses and restaurants. I can't help it.
#1: Palm, New York City
16-Oz Prime New York Strip
On the side: Cottage fries
After eighty years, the original Palm--not so much its twenty-eight branches from San Juan to West Hollywood--still serves the finest of all cuts: the New York strip, on the bone, seared, broiled in a 1600-degree oven, caked with a perfectly smoky char every time. The place hasn't lost its raffishness from the days when cartoonists paid for food by decorating the walls. 837 Second Avenue; 212-687-2953; thepalm.com
