When Georgie by Curtis Stone opened in Knox-Henderson a couple of weeks ago, it revealed a menu of French classics, a meaty selection of tenderloins, strip steaks and chops and one serious jaw-dropper: A 42-ounce bone-in rib-eye priced at a colossal $390.
Even in a town that loves great beef and is willing to pay top dollar for it, I couldn’t recall seeing a steak that even approached that sticker price. And a round of calls to Dallas’ meat palaces — Town Hearth, Knife, Pappas Brothers, Al Biernat’s, Bob’s Steak and Chop House, and Nick and Sam’s — confirmed it.
Georgie’s $390 slab of Australian Blackmore Wagyu is the most expensive steak in town, by a long shot.
The next highest is $255 for “the Dirk,” a 41-ounce, 41-day dry-aged chateaubriand at Nick and Sam’s (named for Dirk Nowitzki, as if you need to be told).
It’s followed closely by the 240-day dry-aged rib-eye at John Tesar’s Knife, a 33-ounce bone-in cut that’ll set you back a mere $250.
Town Hearth, Nick Badovinus’ modern Texas steakhouse, tops out with the bistecca, a minimum 55-day dry-aged porterhouse that weighs in at about 44 ounces for $149.
Al Biernat’s prime tomahawk rib-eye is a 28-ounce, $125 indulgence.
Pappas Brothers limbos in at under $100, with a top price of $99.95 for a prime bone-in, 32-ounce New York strip steak, dry aged minimum 28 days in house.
And Bob’s best is slightly less, a wagyu tomahawk rib-eye that’s 28 ounces and $95.
There are, of course, potentially higher-priced steak specials and A5 Japanese wagyu, the buttery import that is sold by the ounce and generally purchased in diminutive portions.
But for pure menu sticker shock, Georgie takes the steak.
It’s a statement-making move for Stone: The Australia-born, Los Angeles-based celebrity chef opened his first restaurant outside of L.A. in Dallas, focused it on meat and, just to let everyone know he means business, added a $390 cherry on top.
At his Los Angeles restaurant Gwen ― which Georgie is modeled on ― there are five Blackmore wagyu cuts on the menu, ranging from a $150, 12-ounce flat iron steak to the 42-ounce bone-in rib-eye, which is also $390 in L.A.
When Georgie’s butcher shop opens next year, it too will sell the massive bone-in rib-eye ― for $100 a pound. There is also a 10-ounce Blackmore strip steak on Georgie’s menu for $145.
So, what does it get you? Blackmore is one of the world’s most renowned beef producers, from a ranch in Victoria with a herd of more than 3,000 full-blood wagyu cattle that are slaughtered to order. It’s served by chefs including Heston Blumenthal in London and Neil Perry in Sydney, and Stone is the sole importer for the U.S.
Packages of the beef are delivered with the noseprint of the animal, Georgie chef Toby Archibald says. “The noseprint is like the fingerprint of a human,” he says. “So if you want, you can track the animal’s lineage and history.”
It’s too early for a review visit, so I haven’t tried the steak or even been to Georgie yet. But I’ve eaten Blackmore wagyu in Australia and at Stone’s restaurant Gwen, albeit in much smaller portions, and it was a memorable experience.
It is some of the most distinctly flavored beef I’ve ever had, with the complex flavors and lushness of wagyu, but more meatiness and chew than the top-tier Japanese version of the beef.
Phenomenal beef, yes, but phenomenal in a 6-ounce portion. Archibald says Stone and his partner at Georgie, Stephan Courseau, wanted a prestige item on the menu, and the rib-eye is the most premium Blackmore cut. “It’s got that fat cap, that flavor that comes from the bone,” he says. “It’s at least 2 inches thick, so it has more of a roast flavor, more of that primal warm feeling when you’re eating it.”
Unlike the strip steak, which cooks relatively quickly, the rib-eye is slowly grilled to medium-rare in three steps, seasoned simply with kosher salt and a medium-grind of black pepper, and garnished with a few leaves of endive and some béarnaise sauce. Side dishes are extra.
So far, they’ve sold about 10.
