We Albertans sure do love steak. As Canada’s leading beef producer, our fair province accounted for 67% of beef last year, a great portion of which was cut into ribeyes, tenderloins, T-bones and more destined for grocery stores and restaurants across the country.
A good steak is seductive, it is juicy, and it is delicious. It’s an indulgence that satisfies one’s primal needs. Its flavor is incomparable, as rich and complex as a fine red wine. It appeals to everyone. It’s liked by those who are foodies and those who aren’t. It’s what Dad ordered when the family dined out on special occasions; it’s a nostalgic experience that unlocks childhood memories.
For many, the appeal is as much about intense emotion, as it is flavour and texture. It’s not your everyday meal. It’s something to savour, to relish and to enjoy. No wonder, it’s the top selling dish at many of downtown Edmonton’s fine dining restaurants.
At Woodwork steak gets top billing all day long. Midday this handsome yet relaxed restaurant draws a powerhouse business crowd inking business deals, entertaining prospective clients and ordering steak sandwiches. It’s a 6oz flank cooked over a wood fire grill served with house-cut fries. “In comparison to striploin or ribeye, flank is a smaller and more affordable cut for steak sandwich. Because it’s leaner, you can serve it between blue-rare and medium. There’s less fat to render,” says Trevor Johnston, head chef at Woodwork. Cook it any longer and the muscle fibers tighten and the meat becomes tough.
Evening brings diners ready to let their hair down and indulge on bigger and more expensive cuts. Theatre and symphony-goers seated alongside anniversary and birthday revelers order the market cut, the star of the dinner menu. It’s often a 31-day dry aged ribeye.
It’s a superb steak – lightly charred on the outside, deep pink inside, lush and running with juices. Second to the market cut is the steak frites dish, an impressive luscious 8oz striploin propped up with hand-cut fries and garden salad. “Striploin has a moderate amount of fat, more than a filet but less than ribeye. It is a well rounded and versatile steak.”
While steak is a simple dish, the perception is that it can be complex to order. Premium cuts are filet mignon, New York strip, porterhouse, rib eye, T-bone and tenderloin. Butcher cuts, like flank, hanger, flat iron and skirt, come from the lower half of the cow, are less expensive but still quite popular and tasty. Bone-in steaks will have a more earthy and rich flavour. As a general rule of thumb, the fattier the cut (T-bone and ribeye), the higher the cooking temperature. Woodwork’s chef Johnston doesn’t recommend ordering flank and sirloin any longer than medium to avoid a dry steak, but it all comes down to personal preference.
“Part of the appeal of steak is that are so many things that you can do with it, so many cuts, from a striploin to a market cut, and so many ways to order it.”
Beef is common to diverse culinary traditions around the world. Dorinku Osaka, a lunch and dinner hot spot located on Jasper Avenue, reigns supreme for sushi and modern Japanese food. The sushi here is glorious and is exquisitely presented but beef gets it dues here too.
“It’s no longer strange to serve beef sushi at a Japanese restaurant. It’s common now. Being in Alberta and seeing how much people love beef, we serve beef alongside fish,” says Keisuke Kida, kitchen manager of Dorinku Osaka. “For Downtown Dining Week I wanted to introduce a Japanese version of surf and turf.”
The turf part consists of sizzling cubes of tenderloin prepared tableside on a screaming hot stone slab, an earthy complement to yu-choi, red pepper and Chinese eggplant. A plate of seasonal sushi and sashimi completes the surf portion.
Dorinku Osaka continuously challenges customers’ notions of what Japanese food should be, from its shaka shaka fries to the tonkatsu pork cutlet sandwiches. You don’t have to be a fan of raw fish to dine here and be satisfied. The braised short ribs enlivened with sweet balsamic and soya sauce would even bring a smile to the most unadventurous Dad.
From the massive meaty meal at ATLAS Steak + Fish to a three-course steak dinner at Von’s, Downtown Dining Week menus are beefed up. View them all at edmontondowntown.com/diningweek