July 12, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Both the food and the prices are Prime at Barclay
by LEN LEAR

The Kobe sliders are pricey ($15 for two), but the flavor is unforgettable.

The great Samuel Johnson once wrote, “When a man is tired of London, he’s tired of life.” I would paraphrase the legendary 18th century British essayist and critic by adding that when a man (or woman) is tired of great food, he’s tired of life.

This thought came to mind after a dinner in late June at Barclay Prime, the Stephen Starr steakhouse which opened about two-and-a-half years ago at 237 S. 18th St. in what used to be the Barclay Hotel. (It’s now apartments.)

The restaurant, though elegant, does not really look like either a Stephen Starr restaurant or a traditional steakhouse. There is no immediately visible gimmick like the huge Buddha statue at Buddakan or the motorcycle hanging over the bar at El Vez. Even the obnoxious techno music at other Starr locations is pretty much missing in action, although the high noise level is present. And the clubby dark mahogany ambience at other steakhouses has been replaced by light-colored woods (yes, the cutout walnut bookshelves are there) and white and blue contemporary leather chairs, some that swivel and some with arms; marble tables and crystal chandeliers.

The lounge in front is New York-stylish, peopled by glamoristas who look as if they came right from Central Casting. One blogger referred to the lounge crowd as “stilletoed New York wannabees.” We did not see any stilletoes, but we did see some dresses straight from the pages of Vogue or Glamour. Then again, when you are paying these prices, why wouldn’t you want to be seen in your top-tier threads? (Even in the unisex bathroom, one woman was draped as if she were walking down the aisle to pick up an Oscar instead of coming out of a bathroom stall.)

Virtually everyone I have known who has eaten at Barclay Prime reflexively mentions the same two things when asked about the experience: the food is great, and the prices are through the roof.

James LoCascio is the talented executive chef at Barclay Prime.

The question that cries out for an answer, then, is: Why are steakhouses like Barclay Prime able to charge such astronomical prices — and get them — while many very good, lower-priced restaurants are going out of business (the latest being “M,” Pasion, Pif, Astral Plane and Felicia’s, all in the last few weeks)? The last three steakhouses my wife and I have visited — Fleming’s in Radnor, Prime Rib and Barclay Prime — are all filled almost every night of the week (as are Palm, Capital Grille and Morton’s), even though their steak prices are up there somewhere between Saturn and Neptune.

I think the short answer is that consumers with money are willing to pay for quality. Until about 15 years ago, the almost ubiquitous philosophy in the ranching industry was to get beef to the marketplace as quickly as possible by whatever means necessary, usually through the injections of bovine growth hormones and other chemicals and you don’t want to know what else.

The economy soared like a supersonic jet in the 1990s, however, along with a demand for a better product, so more ranchers were willing to take a chance on bringing livestock to market without synthetic additives in the feed, animal byproducts, antibiotics, hormone injections, etc. Some are also now feeding their cattle grains instead of grass. They have found that grain-fed cattle tend to produce beef that is very tender and tasty with excellent marbling. (Studies have shown that grass-fed beef tends to be lower in fat and bad cholesterol than grain-fed beef, but it’s not as tender and rich-tasting, which is what consumers paying big bucks want.)

In addition, restaurants like Barclay Prime are now often using dry-aged beef, which has been hung in temperature-controlled rooms for about three weeks. This seems to maximize the flavor and the marbling, although all of these measures cost the producers lots of money, and the cost is passed on to customers, of course.

For example, the price of a 16-ounce New York strip steak at Barclay Prime is $44; a 20-ounce ribeye is $46 (produced by Gachot & Gachot, the Cadillac of beef suppliers); a 24-ounce porterhouse steak is $48; a Kobe New York strip is $85, and a Kobe cheesesteak is $100. A server told us that very few customers order the $100 cheesesteak for themselves. Most are ordered by tables of four, which then cut them up into four appetizers. (American Kobe-style cattle, by the way, are fed only grains and are pampered, as they are in Japan, where Kobe beef originated. I don’t know if they are given manicures and massages and are taken to dinner and a movie, but they certainly deserve to be.)

A lot of jokes have been made about the $100 cheesesteaks, of course. When the restaurant opened in 2004, there were also protests over the use of fois gras (goose liver) in it, and Stephen Starr responded by saying he will no longer sell fois gras in any of his restaurants. In the cheesesteak it has been replaced by poached lobster, and there are also triple cream tallegio cheese and caramelized shallots (and a bottle of champagne).

Our server highly recommended his two favorite appetizers, and we would echo his comments. The Kobe sliders ($15) are two miniature burgers, about two ounces each, of unsurpassed flavor. If you don’t want to spend a fortune but are curious as to what makes Kobe beef so expensive (it’s not to pay for the salary of Kobe Bryant), this is the way to find out. The other extraordinary appetizer was the scallops wrapped in Nueske bacon (smoked in applewood) and served on two fried green heirloom tomatoes with maple syrup ($16). This is nectar of the gods.

Our New York strip and ribeye were both ample and extraordinarily tender with rich marbleizing, although the New York strip had even more fat than is customary with this cut. In addition, the one that was ordered medium rare came out rare, and the one that was ordered medium came out medium rare. This undercooking is more the rule than the exception in high-end steakhouses. (Most culinary school graduates view well-done beef the way they would view having their salaries cut in half.)

When your steak is served, the server offers you a choice of five steak knives, with a florid description of each one. This is amusing but also pretentious. Won’t any sharp knife cut the mustard — and the steak? After all, for $45, a steak should be tender enough for any decent knife; shouldn’t it?

Side dishes are quite good, but they are $9 each, and believe it or not, if you want a bearnaise sauce or a red wine sauce with your beef, even that is $3 extra. You can easily tally up a bill between $200 and $300 for two. In fact, if I counted correctly, there are 45 bottles of wine over $300 each on their encyclopedic 15-page wine list. There are even five selections over $2,000 per bottle for those who have their palaces paid off.

Desserts ($10 each) are drool-worthy. Pastry chef Frank Urso can compete with any chef with such super-delectables as the toasted peanut butter s’mores (soft graham crackers, peanut butter ice cream, flourless chocolate torte and homemade marshmallows) and the chocolate caramel lava cake (warm milk chocolate, caramel cashew and walnut tart and bourbon ice cream).

For more information or reservations, call 215-732-7560 or visit www.barclayprime.com