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LTH-1's Behind the Meat: Smith & Wollensky

LTH-1's Behind the Meat: Smith & Wollensky
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  • LTH-1's Behind the Meat: Smith & Wollensky

    Post #1 - March 21st, 2005, 9:50 pm
    Post #1 - March 21st, 2005, 9:50 pm Post #1 - March 21st, 2005, 9:50 pm
    How does a place like Smith & Wollensky turn out vast numbers of dry-aged, perfectly prepared, carnally pleasurable steaks like this:

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    Not to mention the fried zucchini, hash browns, onion rings, creamed spinach, and truffle mac and cheese (yes, I said truffle mac and cheese) to go with them?

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    Thanks to professional courtesy extended to Evil Ronnie, a group of us were privileged with a visit behind the scenes today. Our tour of the Smith & Wollensky kitchens-- yes, kitchens plural, there are no fewer than four-- was led by Chef Hans Jr., able and informed lieutenant to his father, Chef Hans.

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    We started our tour in the kitchen adjacent to the main dining room. That floor has another full kitchen plus a pastry kitchen; and a third full kitchen is attached to the downstairs lounge (an underrated spot with a great waterfront-level view and a cozy feel that makes a nice alternative to the aggressive power lunch vibe the main dining room can have). Figures flew from Chef Hans faster than I could remember them, but the ones that stuck-- from 15,000 plates on a busy night to the oddly precise figure of up to 47 orders of Dover sole per night, real Dover sole served tableside-- demonstrate what an impressive operation S&W is. All the moreso because it's almost all prepared in-house, with a few prominent exceptions (the cheesecake, for instance, is made by a place in New York famous for making Smith & Wollensky's cheesecakes). Even the bottled S&W steak sauce is actually mixed and bottled here in the restaurant to the same recipe as the retail version.

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    Here's one of the secrets of the S&W steak-- silky, lush caul fat, brushed onto each steak as it goes out to the table. (They sell it at Paulina, if you want to render it yourself and see what a difference it makes.)

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    Everything is big, big, big at S&W. Here's the cheesecake from which they derive slices as big as, well, cheesecakes at other restaurants:

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    Even the ice cream is made in-house, a different flavor or two each day, no bases or other shortcuts, all real flavors, dated to make sure they're served at their best.

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    The ultimate sanctum sanctorum, the padlocked Fort Knox of Chicago meat, is Smith & Wollensky's dry-aging room. Chef Hans told us more than we ever expected to know about how you manage a half-million to million-dollar portfolio of beef to make sure that it's served at its peak (and not wasted):

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    Shelf after shelf of primals, speared with a slip stating the date and in various states from fresh red to a dried and gnarled purple (on the outside), giving up moisture slowly to concentrate the flavors that make an S&W steak gamier, beefier, manlier than the wet-aged steaks you find elsewhere, as marvelous as they can be. This commitment to letting their profit margin evaporate in the cold air is what makes S&W stand out in a city of fine steaks.

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    One thing we had no idea about was that S&W does not use knives to cut their primals into serving portions. Instead, each chef spends two years on a hilltop in China learning from a Shaolin Master the secret S&W Tiger Steak Fist, which Chef Hans demonstrates here to a terrified Vital Information. It was amazing watching him reduce a primal into perfect 28-oz. steaks in a matter of seconds, using only his hands.

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    They found these behind the House of Blues one night after seeing a strange green glow in the sky. They're waiting to see what hatches from them. No, these are Beef Wellingtons. Besides the dry-aging room, there are four walk-in refrigerators with food in various states of preparedness. One interesting thing we saw (didn't get a picture) was that the salmon portions are pre-seared with the cross-hatch grill marks, kept cold and then finished in a saute pan when ordered. The reason is, if they were cooked on the grill at the same time that steaks are being made, fish oils would be transmitted to the steaks (no matter how well you cleaned the grills in-between).

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    We also saw the wine room, where wine guy Matthew Moore was doing the highly glamorous work of removing the old wine list and inserting the new one into about 300 menus. 450 kinds of wine, he said, perhaps 10,000 bottles:

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    An impressive operation that does what it does-- red meat, red wine, good service-- at a very high level. Thanks to Evil Ronnie for the arrangements, and thanks to Chef Hans Jr. for taking us behind the meat.
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  • Post #2 - March 21st, 2005, 10:18 pm
    Post #2 - March 21st, 2005, 10:18 pm Post #2 - March 21st, 2005, 10:18 pm
    Mike,

    I can almost smell the steak, taste the sides and feel the chill of the walk-in refrigerator.

    So only 47 orders of Dover sole to 15,000 plates? Would those 15,000 plates be main courses only or sides and dessert as well? I haven't been to S&W, but they cannot accomodate 15,000 diners per day, right?

    Thank you for the wonderful report.
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
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  • Post #3 - March 21st, 2005, 10:26 pm
    Post #3 - March 21st, 2005, 10:26 pm Post #3 - March 21st, 2005, 10:26 pm
    No, that's a couple of thousand diners, probably. Maybe that's the whole weekend, don't make me swear to the numbers (apart from the 47).

    One of the things he talked about was the porterhouse, which is ordered infrequently enough (one a night) that keeping that cut in stock in adequate quantities at the perfect level of aging is a real challenge. Often the porterhouses end up cut into the more popular constituent parts and served that way while still good.

    He also talked about the hamburger, which used to come from somewhere (perhaps Gary or somebody knows where) but which they now make in house according to a recipe they created themselves, after about four weeks of testing. The hamburger is, not surprisingly, the recipient of all the little bits that get trimmed off the steaks, but they have to make sure that it has the right mix from different cuts to ensure a consistent product.

    The hamburger is, not surprisingly, a popular item for staff lunch and as we toured at around 3:30, we saw a couple of staff members carrying their own hamburger creations off to eat. When we saw the bin where the burger patties were sitting, cooked, it took considerable effort even after a massive steak not to sneak one into the pocket of your sportcoat.
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  • Post #4 - March 21st, 2005, 10:42 pm
    Post #4 - March 21st, 2005, 10:42 pm Post #4 - March 21st, 2005, 10:42 pm
    Cathy,

    They max out at about 1200 covers an evening when the weather permits the opening of their outside patio. The figure of 15,000 was in reference to the total number of soiled dishes on a busy night: everything from b & b plates to salad plates to dessert.

    Mike,

    At our previous tour, a few years ago, we spotted 10 lb. rolls of an 80/20 blend of Certified Angus ground beef, packed by Chicago's famed Stockyards Packing Co., which they used for their burgers at that time. I'm sure Gary still remember's the sight of me crying in the aging room after learning that the burgers weren't dry aged.

    :oops: :twisted:
  • Post #5 - March 21st, 2005, 11:15 pm
    Post #5 - March 21st, 2005, 11:15 pm Post #5 - March 21st, 2005, 11:15 pm
    Evil Ronnie wrote:They max out at about 1200 covers an evening when the weather permits the opening of their outside patio. The figure of 15,000 was in reference to the total number of soiled dishes on a busy night: everything from b & b plates to salad plates to dessert


    Ok, that makes sense. Thanks!

    Now the precise figure of 47 plates of Dover Sole. I imagine that is the maximum number of portions available of that dish based on their average daily serving model. So if you come late in the day requesting sole, then you are likely to be turned away or dig into the next day's portion.

    Only one porterhouse steak a day, now that is a surprise.

    Again, thanks as always for your insight.

    Regards,
    Cathy2

    "You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
    Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways,
  • Post #6 - March 21st, 2005, 11:24 pm
    Post #6 - March 21st, 2005, 11:24 pm Post #6 - March 21st, 2005, 11:24 pm
    Cathy,

    I'm guessing the "one a night" was the double porterhouse. There were many regular porterhouses cut and ready to go on the cart.

    :evil:
  • Post #7 - March 22nd, 2005, 2:34 am
    Post #7 - March 22nd, 2005, 2:34 am Post #7 - March 22nd, 2005, 2:34 am
    You bastards.

    You bastards.

    You bastards.

    You bastards.

    In what I thought was the height of OTT, luxuriant largesse vis-a-vis cuisine (see the Trotter's thread in Non-Food Chat for a more detailed, spirited discussion of this topic) I once ordered the (in)famous $29 burger at the DB Bistro in Manhattan. While that was, to quote Samuel L. Jackson's character from Pulp Fiction, a tasty burger, I can only imagine that S&W's version (which might indeed cost $29) must, simply HAS TO, trump Mr. Bouloud's gourmet creation if the meat used to make it comes from the trimmings of those dry-aged cuts of bovine carnality so lovingly and carefully laid out on the racks. I was going to come along on this trip til it was revealed that the price tag would be in the $100 range. I now regret it, and wonder if living without electricity for a month would justify the lunch and behind the scenes tour you (bastards) no doubt enjoyed in measures beyond comprehension. One can practically FEEL the meatiness coming off those steaks from the pictures alone; actually smelling, savoring, and eating them must have been ridiculous. Thanks for the pics, though - at the very least, I know that I can use some of my limited contacts in this city to get properly dry-aged beef (the butcher at Fox and Obel is a big Blues fan). Maybe, like the way that people in the neighborhood used to bring their unbaked loaves of bread to Masi Bakery cause there was no oven or stone in the house, I can bring a dry-aged steak to S&W and ask them to grill it at the proper temp. and hit it with a ladle of fat as it's being plated. Or maybe I'll just go to S&W on an off day (does such a thing exist there??) and drop a rock and eat and smile and shut my big mouth. Wow. Fabulous report. You bastards.

    Reb
  • Post #8 - March 22nd, 2005, 8:32 am
    Post #8 - March 22nd, 2005, 8:32 am Post #8 - March 22nd, 2005, 8:32 am
    Ronnie-- you are surely correct, it seemed funny to me at the time that a place serving 1200 covers on a busy night would find the porterhouse so exotic an item that they only sold one a night. It makes more sense that in a given night there is only one Mr. Creosote type capable of eating the double version of an already gargantuan S&W porterhouse portion.

    Rabbi-- For $29 at lunch, or even a dollar or two less, you can get an S&W filet* or strip; I can't find the hamburger's price but it is surely S&W's Extra Value Meal by comparison. With judicious ordering, at lunch you could have one of those steaks, a side (though they don't advertise it, they do have single-person sides for lone diners, or did a couple of years ago when I did that once) and a glass of wine, and not go too far above $50, I would think.

    * Filets are the one thing that is not dry-aged, by the way. Apparently you need a bone for dry-aging, for one thing, and besides it would probably shrink to a very expensive nothing.
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    New episode: Soil, Corn, Cows and Cheese
    Watch the Reader's James Beard Award-winning Key Ingredient here.
  • Post #9 - March 22nd, 2005, 8:46 am
    Post #9 - March 22nd, 2005, 8:46 am Post #9 - March 22nd, 2005, 8:46 am
    Mike G wrote:Ronnie-- you are surely correct, it seemed funny to me at the time that a place serving 1200 covers on a busy night would find the porterhouse so exotic an item that they only sold one a night. It makes more sense that in a given night there is only one Mr. Creosote type capable of eating the double version of an already gargantuan S&W porterhouse portion.

    Rabbi-- For $29 at lunch, or even a dollar or two less, you can get an S&W filet* or strip; I can't find the hamburger's price but it is surely S&W's Extra Value Meal by comparison. With judicious ordering, at lunch you could have one of those steaks, a side (though they don't advertise it, they do have single-person sides for lone diners, or did a couple of years ago when I did that once) and a glass of wine, and not go too far above $50, I would think.

    * Filets are the one thing that is not dry-aged, by the way. Apparently you need a bone for dry-aging, for one thing, and besides it would probably shrink to a very expensive nothing.


    And for even less, you can get a heapin' helpin' of S&W's roast beef hash, which is made from the same trimmings that the burgers are made of.
    Steve Z.

    “Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.”
    ― Ludwig van Beethoven
  • Post #10 - March 22nd, 2005, 10:01 am
    Post #10 - March 22nd, 2005, 10:01 am Post #10 - March 22nd, 2005, 10:01 am
    LOL @ "Tiger Steak Fist". :)

    I certainly had a good time, nice to meet more folks and put faces to names. I have dined at S&W many times but yesterday was the first I had ever sampled the truffled mac & cheese. I doubt I will ever dine there again without ordering it, it's just that damn good.
    Objects in mirror appear to be losing.
  • Post #11 - March 22nd, 2005, 10:31 am
    Post #11 - March 22nd, 2005, 10:31 am Post #11 - March 22nd, 2005, 10:31 am
    Great stuff. Sorry I missed this. I'm certainly game for further lunchtime exploration of Chicago's steakhouses.

    I was lucky enough to get a tour of the Gibson's kitchens a few months back when I was involved with an event there. I was blown away by quality, the cleanliness, but mostly by the from-scratch obsession that you folks documented so well at S&W. Nothing at the steak houses at this rarified level appears to come pre-made, pre-chopped, pre-anything. They hardly have any freezer space, because almost nothing is frozen, save ice cream. Gibson's/Hugo's has large refrigerated "fish rooms" where massive whole halibut and other critters are broken down daily. What they don't have, what few have, is an awesome meat cave like S&W's.

    I think it's easy to dismiss the high-end steakhouse. They aren't cheap, and there are not as many skills or wait staff involved. I know a lot of people are disappointed by them. But the product is usually impeccable.

    Here's a link to a very informative primer on prime dry-aged beef and how to cook it, from Bern's in Tampa. The heavily abbreviated on line wine list is also worth a look.


    http://www.bernssteakhouse.com/bs_frame.htm

    (Click on "Art in Steaks")
  • Post #12 - March 22nd, 2005, 10:47 am
    Post #12 - March 22nd, 2005, 10:47 am Post #12 - March 22nd, 2005, 10:47 am
    JeffB wrote:Great stuff. Sorry I missed this. I'm certainly game for further lunchtime exploration of Chicago's steakhouses.


    Hear hear... great post on a neat outing... Like the Rebbe, though, I suspect this sort of indulgence is beyond my means, but maybe I can set up a website with a cute bunny and threaten its life and collect money...

    MikeG: how did you get the moving/oscillating photo effect?

    Very cool.

    Anyone want to buy an Onion? (I'm all out of Streetwise.)
    Antonius
    Alle Nerven exzitiert von dem gewürzten Wein -- Anwandlung von Todesahndungen -- Doppeltgänger --
    - aus dem Tagebuch E.T.A. Hoffmanns, 6. Januar 1804.
    ________
    Na sir is na seachain an cath.

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