EVERY SO OFTEN, an item on a menu that has been a constant for years will suddenly vanish. You might still be able to order it by special request, but sooner or later you will ask yourself, Whatever happened to the Waldorf salad? What happened is it became extinct. In “Kitchen Confidential,” chef Anthony Bourdain remembers such dishes from his days in the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) circa 1975, including “cauliflower in Mornay sauce, saddle of veal Orloff, lobster thermidor . . . chicken Hawaiian, grilled ham steak with pineapple ring and old-style lumbering classics like beef Wellington.” All of which have been relegated to the ash heap of culinary history. Could a true American classic like the chopped steak be next?
So far as we know, the first recorded case of mad cow disease in the United States is also the only case. And while Congress will continue scrutinizing the USDA’s surveillance system, the general public can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that for now, nothing will stand between them and a juicy steak. But what about ground beef? After all, the one cow with BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or “mad cow”) found its way into eight states plus Guam as hamburger patties. Wary consumers may opt for steak sandwiches rather than chopped steak–a choice that could ultimately lead to its extinction from the menu.
THERE WAS A TIME when ground beef was feared. A century ago, it bore the stigma of being “poor people’s food.” Back then, according to “Fast Food Nation” author Eric Schlosser, “restaurants rarely served hamburgers; they were sold near lunch carts near factories, at circuses, carnivals, and state fairs. Ground beef, it was widely believed, was made from old, putrid meat heavily laced with chemical preservatives.” Not until the 1920s and the arrival of White Castle, which enforced stricter and healthier standards, did that perception change. Nevertheless, before World War II, the most popular meat in America was pork. Today, that is no longer the case, as Americans, on average, consume roughly 64.4 pounds of beef per year (compared with 49.8 pounds of pork and 50 pounds of chicken).
Even so, ground beef may be in jeopardy. For instance, if you go to epicurious.com–a site that boasts “The World’s Greatest Recipe Collection”–you will not find a single entry for the phrase “chopped steak.” (Type-in “sea bass” and you get 85 hits.) Go to a restaurant and odds are you will not find it on the menu there, either. But what about a great steakhouse?
THE CAUCUS ROOM is located between the Capitol and the White House in Washington, D.C.–a fitting spot since it aims to bring together politicians in a nonpartisan setting. (Two of the restaurant’s partners are Democratic insider Tom Boggs and Republican governor Haley Barbour.) In a dark, wood-paneled barroom, I meet with general manager Ed D’Alessandro and executive chef Richard Beckel. I point out that a chopped steak is featured on the Caucus Room’s website. D’Alessandro admits that the online menu needs to be updated. “Chopped steak has been gone from the menu for some time,” he says. “When we redo our menus, we check the menu mixes that will tell you what’s selling and what’s not. The chopped steak was not one of our more popular items.”
But just when all seemed hopeless, Beckel, a hulk of a man with a boyish face, chimes in, saying, “We do it by request.” A customer simply needs to ask for it–and what he gets is worth the wait. According to the chef, “We use ground Kobe beef, broil it, cook it to whatever temperature you like, then cover it with onions, mushrooms, and a sauce similar to gravy that we make here.” How often has he had to do this? “Just once.” The CIA-trained Beckel doesn’t recall having to prepare the dish in class but both he and D’Alessandro grew up in the New York area and are familiar with the old war horse.
Beckel, originally from Rockland County, New York, remembers the old diners that served it “with a dark gravy and a side of mashed potatoes. It was a hamburger that offered the vegetable of the day or salad and fries. But it was also bigger. It was like two hamburgers, oval-shaped.” He also reminds me of the distinction between chopped steak and Salisbury steak, “which is usually made with a filler in it. It’s not grilled but sautéed or braised.” (As far as regular steaks go, Beckel enjoys the bone-in ribeye, medium rare to medium, simply prepared with salt and pepper. “And no steak sauce,” adds D’Alessandro. “Don’t ever put steak sauce on the table.”)
THE CAPITAL GRILLE has also become a hotspot for the politicians and from time to time, executive chef Bryan Thomas will get a call in advance for a special order of the chopped steak, which is otherwise not on the menu. “What I did for this particular chopped steak was take our filet mignon, chop that real fine, in an au jus that’s like a light demi that we garnish our steaks with.” Thomas, who attended the Culinary Institute of Washington, laughs when I ask him if he ever learned to make a chopped steak there. “That’s a bit of old school,” he says. (As for his favorite steak, Thomas goes for the Delmonico, aka the ribeye. “It’s got the most flavor. I like mine medium-plus with a hot pink center. I think you need to cook it a little past rare. We sometimes do a dry porcini rub–dry porcini mushrooms ground fine with crushed red peppers, some sugar, and salt. Rub the steak in that and broil it.”)
ALTHOUGH OLIVES–a creation of master chef Todd English–is not a steakhouse, it does serve its fair share of beef. And the closest thing to a chopped steak they serve is a hamburger without the bun if a customer is Atkins-restricted. “We probably get four orders of ‘burger-no-bread’ a day,” says Mike Odom, the solid-looking sous-chef who runs the lunch scene. “We’ve served meatloaf, but chopped steak wouldn’t sound glamorous enough.” He speculates that if he were to do so, “we might not even use all beef so much as ground pork and ground veal and put it all together.” Asked if he learned the chopped steak during his days in the CIA, he sighs, “No, I have never personally been told to make chopped steak. I might have made a Salisbury steak back then, but it’s not a fond memory.”
(Both Odom and executive chef Steve Mannino have served celebrities, including Michael Jordan, who used to be a regular at Olives during his time with the Washington Wizards. “Mike liked to order steak and lobster,” Mannino says. “Most of the NBA players who come here get lobster–not whole, but we usually cut it up and sauté it for them.” Odom remembers when Redskins owner Dan Snyder and Deion Sanders walked in. Both men “would not eat vegetables. Snyder had a sea bass and potatoes–nothing green. Deion ordered a well-done tenderloin,” Odom says, looking down and shaking his head. “We just made it. It’s tough.”)
THERE ARE STILL some places with chopped steak on the menu, and one of them is the venerable Chicago Chophouse. “We’ve had it for ages,” partner John Pontarelli tells me. “The reason why we keep it on and why people still order it is because we do our own in-house butchering. Scraps from the filets and New York strips we grind up. How many places can advertise a ‘prime’ chopped steak?” (The raspy-voiced Pontarelli resembles a younger, better-looking Robert Loggia.) “When I sit down for lunch, I’ll have a chopped steak. The only thing we do is put it together and broil it. No additives, no spices. Au jus on top and maybe melted bleu cheese.” The other steaks get similar treatment: “Nothing added, no tenderizers, no nothing. We are extreme purists here.”
ACCORDING TO STEAK LORE, in the 1970s when Arnie Morton still worked at the Playboy Club in Chicago, he sat down for lunch at the club and ordered a chopped-steak sandwich. He took one bite and shouted at the top of his lungs, “I want to know who made this sandwich!” Out came the chef, Klaus Fritsch, who sheepishly admitted to it. “This is the best hamburger I have ever had in my life,” said Arnie. The two went into business together and 25 years later, Morton’s steakhouse is still thriving. The Morton’s in downtown Washington has been operating for over seven years and for all that time, the day manager has been Ruthann Labat. The chopped steak, she says proudly, has been on their menu since the beginning.
The Morton’s chopped steak is about a pound of prime beef served over au jus, topped with onions, and mashed potatoes on the side. Says Ruth, “It’s similar to what people used to have at home, what used to be called the minute steak. . . . I came from a very large family of nine brothers and going out to eat was a very big deal. But when we did, we’d get something called ‘hamburger steak,’ which is basically a hamburger–but we thought we were getting the steak of a lifetime.” She looks back fondly on those days, believing that chopped steak endures because it’s comfort food. “I think there are very few people who have not experienced it in one version or another, either growing up, at home, mom’s cooking, or their first experience as a cook because it was easy to put together.” (Ruth’s favorite steak is not the petite filet, though she herself is petite. “My favorite steak is the porterhouse. So much so I named my dog after it–‘Porter’ for short.”)
In addition to Morton’s, there are a number of other Washington restaurants that serve the chopped steak, including Nick & Stef’s, Fran O’Brien’s, the Palm, and the Prime Rib. And with places like these and defenders like Ruth and Pontarelli, we may yet find a way to save the chopped steak from going the way of the Waldorf salad. It’s a battle worth fighting.
Victorino Matus is an assistant managing editor at The Weekly Standard.
