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Are there any butchers still breaking down sides of beef? Last I know of was Sonny D'Angelo before he switched to Wagyu a few years ago. Not sure about Harry Och's. Any local butchers left that are not starting with Cryovac?
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re: Holly Moore
The only one left that I know of is a wholesaler on Richmond St. in the Fishtown area that supplies high end restaurants in the TRI State area. He has the best & sells both dry and wet aged beef as well as #1 grade seafood. He only sells large quantities though such as whole primal cuts. When I get stuff from him, I get lots of friends in on the order and try to buy "at least" $300.00 worth to make it worth his while. Even then, he is kinda still doing me a favor.
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re: Holly Moore
No. I believe Wells is all boxed beef. The large wholesale company I am talking about is called Kissin Fresh Meats. You can Google them and click on raw cuts to see what they sell. Operating within Kissin Meats is Steve McDonnell who owns Swedesboro Prime Meats and Seafood. Steve basically cherry picks the sides of beef as they come in looking for what his customers (some of the finest restaurants in the Tri State Area) want. Steve McDonnell is who I buy from. If he knows you really appreciate old school butchering, he will cut you off a really nice whole primal cut and hang it for a 28 day dry age, bone it out (Bones get funky during the dry age process), trim off the dried out outer shell, cut it into your desired thickness steaks and vacuum seal it for you. He is not cheap as a lot of time and work go into his product but he easily beats internet mail orders such as Lobels.
His ground sirloin is to die for. REAL sirloin from the hanging beef is ground daily and the fat is left in bee bee sized pieces mixed throughout the meat. Due to the size of the specks of fat, it does not all melt quickly and drip into the fire. Best burger I have ever eaten. Moist delicious steak tasting, no liver taste like chuck. He is so confident in the quality of the ground sirloin he will eat it raw in front of you. Ask the meat cutter at a supermarket to do that with the ground meat from the big packing houses and he will look at you like you have a 3rd eye. Because of the quality, I cook them med rare and as I said they are to die for.
He also has #1 grade seafood. His tuna is the type you find at the best Japanese Sushi restaurants (#1 grade) meant to be eaten raw. His shrimp and scallops are all #1 grade which is the best you can get.
As I said though, I wait until I have a $300.00 order which is really not hard if you have family / friends who like the best of the best.
You can google Swedsboro Prime Meats and Seafood and his site should come up. There are also several media articles quoting Steve McDonnell which are worth reading. ****RECENTLY HE UNDER WENT HIP SURGERY AND WILL PROBABLY BE OUT OF ACTION UNTIL THE END OF APRIL 2012****.
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Best bet is to by a whole primal cut from the TOP choice grade. Pick one with the most marbling (white specks of fat) running through the lean. When looking at the whole primal cut, you will see a flatter end (end cut) with lines of grissel running across the center of the meat and the other end looks rounder and like a nice steak. This is the first cut end and this is where you want to examine it for the most flecks of marbling running throughout the lean. Make sure the cryovac is tight to the meat with no puffy areas filled with blood. Put it on the back of the bottom shelf of the frig or better yet a spare frig where the door does not get opened often. Let it age 28 days, remove from Cryovac, rinse with cold water & cut into 1 1/4 thick steaks. Then triple wrap each steak you don't eat that day and freeze. The whole process is very, very easy and when you go out to eat you likely won't be ordering steak because it wont be as good as what you make at home for 20 cents on the dollar. Only thing you will need is a good sharp knife. Many good free online videos on selecting a whole primal piece, aging, cutting & freezing.
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Picked up some steak at Giunta's Prime shop in RTM. Cast-iron grilled some london broil last night, and it was actually tasty by itself. Probably not the cut you're looking for, but it was good, and they do carry the better cuts. Prices are not bad at all for organic, either. Also picked up a huge Tri-tip and some rabbit as well. Must've come away with about 6-8 lbs of meat for less than $50.
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re: tzanghi
Pretty new to the forum but not to steak. Truth is the best of the top choice (A maturity & Moderate marbling) eats about the same as bottom prime which is ( A maturity & slightly abundant marbling) and in their whole primal cuts they can both be wet or dry aged. The biggest difference is the bottom prime often costs about 50% more and has a heavier fat cap which is waste that you pay for. For these reasons, most good restaurants & steak houses serve top choice from a trusted supplier and age the primal cuts for about 3 to 4 weeks. Now don't get me wrong, you can't even begin to compare a top choice grade steak to a top prime grade steak with "TRUE" abundant marbling. Most of this super quality meat is shipped to places like Japan where price is no option. Some will go to NY and some will be bought up by the very best steak houses and be put on the menu "starting" at $75.00 a plate A La Carte.
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Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I ended up getting steaks at DiBruno's on Chestnut Street. They carry Choice and the butcher told me the cuts are from the top 20% of Choice. I got filets; they had visible marbling and were very good.
I wanted to check out Whole Foods too, but didn't have a chance. I also found out that Sonny D'Angelo carries Kobe beef.
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re: barryg
One of the worst steaks I've ever had was Sonny D'Angelo wagyu. Tough, little marbling, etc. Wegmans in Cherry HIlly does carry good looking heavily marbled steaks, but I've never tried them.
So anyone come up with anything definitive? It seems there's a real derth of excellent prime meat in this city.
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re: Boognish
Thanks for the info on the Wagyu. That is pretty disappointing, what cut was it?
Given how good the DiBruno's steaks were I don't see myself paying double or more for prime any time soon, especially in light of Tom34's informative comments below. I am curious to try Whole Foods (probably South St location for me), if I do I will report back.
Someone in RTM or Italian Market should step it up with at least some Prime offerings though.
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re: barryg
Perhaps this will shed some light as to why that Wagyu wasn't so great: http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolms...
There's no real Kobe beef in America at the moment, AFAIK, I'm afraid.
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Is there really nowhere? Where is the best place to buy steaks in CC/South Phil, prime or otherwise?
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re: barryg
Och's was briefly in Main St. Market but they are not anymore. Not sure what's going on with them.
Best bet for prime steaks is probably the Whole Foods on Callowhill, right off the Parkway.
While we're here, if you had to get a 10 pound pork should, would you go to Giunta's in RTM or Esposito's in S. Philly? Or anywhere else for that matter?
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re: barryg
Delucacheesemonger
Feb 3, 2012 02:14 PM
No it is not in Phila, but the Costco in KOP has whole strips and whole ribeyes, also cut up steaks both prime and both super. Buy a whole one, butcher it up, very, very easy, and freeze what you do not need. Have been using them for years, never disappointed.
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re: barryg
Bacchus101
Feb 4, 2012 12:37 PM
None of the Wegman's are within your parameters as to location. Perhaps in a pinch or traveling in the hinterland know that they do have a good selection of prime meats cut to your specifications.
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