Stanley Lobel
Photo: courtesy of Lobel's Prime Meats
Renowned butcher Stanley Lobel, whose family has been in the industry for five generations, knows meat. As co-owner and operator of the New York institution Lobel's Prime Meats, and co-author of the recently published Lobel’s Meat Bible, he is one of the most trusted authorities on the subject, with his store attracting a loyal following among celebrities, politicians and devoted foodies alike. Having already illustrated that steak is still prime, we spoke to Lobel about why it deserves to be, and asked him to share some trade secrets and opinions on current trends.
Zagat Buzz: What makes for a good steak?
Stanley Lobel: A really great steak is not very soft. A really great steak has a combination of softness and flavor – flavor is critical. Cook it with a little kosher salt, olive oil and that’s it.
ZB: So when you want steak, where do you go?
SL: To my house. Although I do have one restaurant that allows me to bring my own, the only catch is that I’ve got to bring one for the owner!
ZB: How are your clients dealing with the recession?
SL: I thank god I’ve felt nothing in terms of the recession. We’re very fortunate. I guess maybe our clients are just well-heeled, and I think a lot of them would rather have a good steak rather than a good stock...I know the way I feel – when I want something, and I figure how much money I’ve lost, I’ve got to be crazy not to have what I want. If I wait, I may not be here, or I may not want it anymore!
ZB: Many restaurants seem to be hosting whole animal roasts. What's your opinion of this trend?
SL: The whole purpose of cooking that way is because of economics. It’s much more reasonable to cook larger sides of beef with slow cooking, which enables the meat to become soft and tender...I think once the average person gets that taste, whole roasts are here to stay.
ZB: Is there a cut of meat from the past you’d like to see more of on modern menus?
SL: The old-fashioned pot roast is a cut of meat that comes from the first cut chuck. It has enormous flavor, and is not being used in restaurants at all. The average cut they use now is bottom round, eye round, top round and brisket – those are the normal cuts and are flavorless. But when you take this specific cut that I’m talking about and pot it, it’s not good – it’s magnificent.
ZB: And there’s no place where can you order such a thing?
SL: Nope. One of the biggest problems I find with the food industry today is that you can take any piece of meat and mask it, and make it look good and make it taste good. But when you start with the right piece of meat, it doesn’t just taste good, it tastes incredibly good, like something you’ve never eaten before.
ZB: What cuts of meat would you recommend to convert a vegetarian to meat?
SL: I’d have them over to my house, and I’d barbecue. Grilled steak is by far the best. It’d be either a rib steak, which is extremely flavorful, or a hanger steak, which is also incredibly flavorful and extremely juicy.
ZB: Conversely, what would you suggest for a person who feels they’ve had it all?
SL: Rabbi, priest? [Laughs.] For the person who wants to be a connoisseur, I’d have to go with a filet, a prime grilled filet. Filet is soft, normally speaking, and doesn’t have the flavor that a real steak has, but when you use a prime filet, it has the combination of the flavor and the softness, and makes an incredible steak. But it must be prime.
ZB: How do you feel about the public being more involved in finding out where they get their meat?
SL: I think it’s incredibly important. With what we do, everything comes from a special farm that produces for us. But unfortunately not everyone has the ability to get that kind of product. There’s a lot to be done in that area.
ZB: What’s one thing that we can improve on when purchasing meat for home preparation? Any widespread mistakes?
SL: If I go into a supermarket, or go into a Costco, Sam’s Club or a BJ’s, I have a tendency to watch what people do and how they buy. And what they look for is bright red meat, and it just surprises me how they don’t understand that meat needs graining – those little flecks of fat in the meat to make it soft, which is not the fat culprit. The fat culprit is fat that’s on the outside, not the fat that’s in the inside. So the most [common] mistake that people make is not knowing what they’re buying. But then again, that’s why we just came out with our new book, Lobel’s Meat Bible.
ZB: For your money, what’s a good cut of meat to get?
SL: If I was a consumer and needed to cut back, the way I’d cut back would be in quantity, not quality. I’d rather have one steak once a week, and have the best, than a lot of steak during the week that’s just food going down your stomach. That would be my preference, no two ways about it!
– Jacqueline Wasilczyk