STEAKHOUSE E&S: What’s at Steak?

By Lisa White, Contributing Editor -- Foodservice Equipment and Supplies, 2/1/2008

American steakhouses are anything but cookie-cutter. These chains' formats run the gamut from high-end, white-tablecloth establishments featuring pricey cuts to the less expensive, rustic family steakhouses that include a salad bar.

Steakhouse menus tend to be just as expansive as in other restaurants. In addition to steak, selections typically include various chicken, fish and pasta entrées. The more casual, family-friendly chains even have buffets.

It may be this diversity that has helped grow the full-service family steakhouse segment. Technomic, a Chicago-based foodservice research firm, reports that full-service steakhouses comprised a 34-percent share of sales for the top 500 chains and experienced 1.4-percent growth in the industry from 2005 to 2006, the last year for which data was available. This segment increased 6.9 percent overall totaling approximately $8.5 billion in sales.

Although limited-service steakhouses experienced a more modest 2-percent decrease in growth over this period, dollar sales in this segment were up .4 percent. These restaurants took in more than $3.6 million in 2006.

The equipment packages may be pretty basic, but operators can choose more than one way to prepare a steak. While Bourbon Steak restaurants rely on a cooking method similar to sous vide, Morton's The Steakhouse employs a more simple approach that brings out the best in its steaks, according to the chain's culinary team. At Sirloin Stockade, the emphasis is on the aging process, which takes place on-site.

Partnering with hotels and casinos, Bourbon Steak's Las Vegas, Miami, San Francisco, and Scottsdale, Ariz., restaurants serve as showcase facilities. This is no surprise given that the chain's creator is Michael Mina, the well-known James Beard award-winning chef and restaurateur of many critically acclaimed operations across the country.

The high-end menu features all natural meats that are free of hormones and antibiotics. Three meat varieties, including American Kobe, all natural Angus, and Japan's highest grade export, A5 Kobe, are always available. Customers can choose from five to six different cuts of beef including rib eye, filet mignon, skirt steak, porterhouse and flatiron. Meat arrives fresh and is generally cut and aged inhouse, according to Anthony Carron, corporate chef of the Munich Group, which runs the restaurants. "We receive most of our steaks as whole primal or sub primal cuts, which we portion with a band saw," Carron says. A butcher is on-site daily to perform steak fabrication. "We try to cut just what we need for the day."

What sets Bourbon Steak apart, however, is the chain's unique butter poaching method that has its roots in the sous vide-style of cooking. "In the past, our higher-end restaurants would put meat in vacuumpacked bags and cook it slowly. Rather than creating unevenly cooked steak, this method produced a consistent product," Carron says. The downside was the length of time it took to vacuum-package the meats.

The restaurant re-adapted this method to accommodate its large-scale operations, which typically seat between 150 and 200 patrons at one time. Staff first poach steaks in clarified butter and herbs at 120°F. until rare. The poaching chambers resemble steam tables, but regulate temperatures by a tenth of a degree using individual immersion circulators. Though steaks are poached for 30 to 45 minutes before being served, Carron says the fat holds in the meat's moisture, regardless of the poaching time.

When the order is up, staff finish the meat on wood-burning grills fueled with real wood and charcoal. This not only caramelizes the steaks, but also brings them up to the desired temperature. "Steaks are cooked slowly and evenly, taking on the flavors of garlic, herbs and wood. No one does this on the same scale as we do," Carron says.

Bourbon Steak serves its meat à la carte, giving customers the choice of 16 side dishes. Menu items change seasonally.

As unique as its steak production, Bourbon Steak's dessert offerings revolve around fried items such as doughnuts, churros and fritters. Flat-bottom fryers and tabletop doughnut machines automatically fry the pastries and drain the oil. Carron likens the production to a doughnut chain operation.

"We take cake batter, drop it in the fryer and the doughnut machine transfers it right onto the plate. Here, we incorporate other elements, like ice cream and sauces, to create signature desserts," he says.

The restaurant also features a bakery department, where high-end breads like potato and rosemary focaccia are baked in individual pans that are delivered warm directly to the table.

Staff prepare these items using a 40-quart mixer and bake them in a double-deck oven. Some locations use a proofing box, while others proof in a walk-in.

Carron says the secret to great steak is a perfect starting point. "Steakhouses treat menu items simply, and don't dress them up," he says.

A Cut Above
Despite the downturn in the housing market and talks of a recession on the horizon, the more than 100 high-end steakhouses in New York City should dispel any doubts about the viability of this segment. With 78 locations worldwide, Morton's The Steakhouse is a prime example of how lucrative an operation that focuses on quality and simplicity can be. The sales volume of each location averages $5.3 million a year.

"Morton's is a classic steakhouse, and our trademark is consistency," says Roger Drake, vice president of communications and public relations.

Its first location debuted in December of 1978, offering USDA prime aged beef in the top 2-percent to 3-percent grade. Drake says meat of this quality is not available at the butcher. Double-cut filet mignon, porterhouse, double porterhouse, New York strip and Chicago- style bone-in rib eye arrive two to three times a week already aged, cut and individually vacuum-packaged to ensure that all meat is the exact same weight.

Because the meat arrives at the restaurant ready to cook, it requires minimal production. After the kitchen staff anticipate how much meat customers will order each day, a cook layers the steaks on sheet pans separating them with butcher paper.

Despite having to deal with existing building layouts, Morton's kitchen designs and equipment packages are similar, says Chris Rook, the chain's corporate executive chef. About 99 percent of the locations have front-line display kitchens featuring 30 feet of butcher-block counters that open to the dining room. "Everything is made to order. Our customers can see our broilers with their steaks cooking," he says.

Kitchens are split into front-line and back operations. The front line contains two broilers and four ovens, including one convection oven, an eight-burner stove and a flat top with refrigeration underneath for fresh fish and lobster. This area also includes heated plate shelves.

In the back, kitchen staff prepare salads, cold appetizers and madeto- order desserts. This area contains lower-level refrigeration, a broiler for private parties, a 15-gallon tilting skillet for bisque, a double-stack oven for desserts and a two-door refrigeration unit that contains lettuce and salad dressings. In this area, Morton's uses one walk-in for meat and another for produce.

Morton's typically displays its steak on the front line and rotates it out, except in locations where this is prohibited by local health department codes.

What makes Morton's unique is the quality of its beef and the way it is served, according to Rook. "A lot of restaurants serve prime beef, but we one-up our competitors when it comes to service," he says. Staff wheel carts with different cuts of raw beef to the tables where they educate diners on the variety of cuts and the different styles of preparation. "There are lots of different things we can do but don't because it doesn't fit our style," Rook says. "Although we are always looking at new entrée ideas, the core of Morton's menu always stays the same."

This philosophy doesn't prevent the chain from keeping up with the trends, however. For instance, Morton's has expanded its seafood selections to include items like sesameencrusted Yellow fin tuna. New appetizers have been added as well as french fries.

Newer Morton's locations feature a separate bar area called 12.20 that Drake says has led to increased average unit sales volumes.

Morton's has updated its general décor, too. Instead of dark, windowless locations, the chain continues to open new restaurants in street-level locations that feature big windows that let in the light. Established sites also have been made brighter, with updated lighting and lighter color schemes. Wine continues to emerge as an important offering at this steakhouse, with temperature-controlled wine rooms being added to its newest locations.

With wine and spirits encompassing almost a third of Morton's overall business, two-thirds of that figure in wine, it is a good investment. The chain employs certified sommeliers at its restaurants and places an emphasis on wine education. Drake says this is what its mainly affluent customers have come to expect. "We won't change everything, but the Morton's brand is definitely evolving," Drake says.

A Good Age
When it came on the scene back in 1966, Sirloin Stockade was considered a budget steakhouse. Four decades later, the concept has evolved to become a steak and buffet/steak and entrée chain.

Since its inception, Sirloin Stockade has gone from offering a limited menu to display cooking more than 20 entrées and back to featuring a steak-driven menu, says COO Terry Harstad. "We haven't exactly come full-circle, but we are a lot closer to offering the more limited number of entrées that we had 30 years ago than we have ever been," he says.

The format varies, depending on the restaurant. For example, while some locations offer a salad bar and hot food accompaniments, others are more entrée-driven. Some Sirloin Stockade locations feature all-you-caneat menus. "There is definitely diversity within our concept," Harstad says. Steak offerings are standard and include 7-, 12- and 16-oz. top sirloin; 12- and 16-oz. rib eye; 14-oz. strip steak; an 8-oz. bacon-wrapped tenderloin or filet; a 16-oz. t-bone; and both a 20- and 24-oz. porterhouse. Sirloin is the top seller. Included in the price are a baked potato, fresh yeast roll, salad and a dessert bar.

The current kitchen layout and its continued development stem from the vast majority of franchisees being production-driven. Sirloin Stockade kitchens feature a straight-line production that flows from the back door and staging area to the dining room.

Production centers on the aging process. Although the supplier delivers aged steaks, the aging process continues after delivery. In fact, steaks are aged seven to 10 days under refrigeration in the restaurants' refrigerated storage area, then aged 30 to 45 days before cooking. The restaurants also feature an in-house meat-cutting facility adjacent to the aging and storage area. Rib eye, strip loin, tenderloin, short loins for porterhouse steaks and t-bones are cut in-house. "We grind all our own trim and U.S. chuck for ground products, which gives us a very high-end ground meat product," Harstad says.

Because aging and cutting are done on the premises, Sirloin Stockade's equipment differs from a typical restaurant, according to Madison Jobe, vice president of development. The meat area contains a choppergrinder, a saw for cutting short loins and a meat tenderizer. Steaks are then held in a nearby storage area measuring either 10 feet by 12 feet or 14 feet by 20 feet at between 34°F. and 38°F. "We get boxed beef deliveries once or twice a week," Jobe says.

Staff transport steak from the aging area to staging, then to the cutting room, where they place the meat into dated containers. These are rotated into a secondary refrigerated staging area for cut steaks. When the meat is ready to be cooked, staff transfer the container to a reach-in cooler. A total of 24 steaks are refrigerated and rotated at one time. "We want to keep them as fresh and cool as possible until they are cooked," Harstad says. Steaks are served on traditional steel platters that sit on wood.

Sirloin Stockade features segmented display cooking areas. For example, there may be a bakery and pizza area or a pizza and pasta section.

There will be a flat grill for food production in one area and a char grill for other menu items in another. "Everything other than what goes on the char grill is in a display cooking area," Harstad says.

All future sites will include display cooking areas, where customers can watch cooks frying, sautéing, grilling and cooking product. "We may be plating hot food, such as transferring a stir-fry dish directly onto guests' plates from the skillet, or placing hot food in a steam cabinet and transferring it to a steam pan for the buffet," Harstad says.

Approximately 90 percent of Sirloin Stockade's baked goods are made from scratch on-site. Bread and pizza dough are both high-volume production items.

Jobe says the chain is continuing its plans to expand. "There are increasing opportunities for us to offer a value-priced menu for the steakhouse segment. Because we are a franchise-driven operation, the markets are there. We have had a number of inquiries from potential franchisees located in small Midwest and Texas towns," he says