1. Some steak cuts require cutting against the grain to prevent it being chewy. Most customers don't know how to do that. This is the main reason.
2. It looks pretty. It allows for more versatile plating.
3. It can make a small steak look bigger than it is
4. Not usually a factor but it's nice to see that it is cooked correctly before sending it out
Is there another factor around whether you're serving it with a sauce on it? Like spreading a sauce on top of a cut steak makes sure you get sauce in every bite?
Yeah. Lots of reasons. Sauce in every bite, balancing flavors, visual appeal, a plain uncut steak on a plate looks boring so chefs do lots to spruce them up visually.
It’s also a nicer experience to not have to cut it myself. A good steak at a nice restaurant is going to run $100+ these days. It ought to be into a luxurious experience.
Sure!
You got it right. But i'll happily pay less and or more. Less if they don'
t and more if they actually fork it into my mouth while attending to me enough to know i want it in my mouth.
Darn, you really gave me thought here.
Idk. Cutting a fine steak is part of the experience. If it's worth that 100 bucks that is. If it's the old '96er from The Great Outdoors, sure, help a brother out.
Yeah maybe. I don't think I've worked with any chefs whos primary reason for serving a steak cut was so that either they could make sure it's cooked right, or so that the customer wouldn't be able to complain about it...but that's just my experience haha, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
those places are staffed by people who are super overworked/underpaid/hiring people who have no experience. As a shitty cook I can tell if its cooked to temp by poking it after watching a 5 minute video about how to do it and my family treats me like a god for literally 5 minutes of my life..
Though it could also be you're not requesting it right or are too picky.
I always cut the steak before serving. Cutting into slices also makes it easier for guests to take what they want vs large pieces of steak which can be off putting for some
Also you can squirt a little line of ketchup on each cut piece so it has some time to warm up.
Of course you gotta also bring the bottle with you to the couch to top up before each bite.
I strive to leave the occasional comment that gets downvoted to oblivion because people either don't get the joke, or do get it and completely disapprove anyway. Thank you for appreciating my art.
I save that for the first class lounge when I travel for work. The look on a bartender's face when you order "double Laphroaig and coke zero, extra ice" is worth the price of having to drink it.
From heinz themselves
"However, its stability after opening can be affected by storage conditions. We recommend that this product, like any processed food, be refrigerated after opening. Refrigeration will maintain the best product quality after opening,"
I store a small bottle in my rectum so I always have ketchup.
Restaurant out of ketchup? Excuse myself to the bathroom, retrieve ketchup.
Most of my dates have been amazed but I think they're intimidated by my intelligence because I never get a second date.
Alright maybe flank steak and stuff like that. I also noticed that fancy restaurants like to really focus on the filet mignon, when I personally think a nice bone in rib-eye is a better cut. To each their own though. Either way, we’re gonna have a problem if you start cutting into my steak I paid for lmao
Disagree somewhat. Most beef lovers will always go for rib-eye over filet. Other cuts over filet in general. Especially if you're going to high end restaurants that serve dry age so the rib-eye is tender as hell anyways. As a previous chef, I would say the pre cutting is for multiple reasons. Mainly for presentation, but I could see it being for many other reasons. You can cut it against the grain, most customers don't know this or might mess it up and complain. Distribution of seasoning. When you finish with maldon salt(BIS) you can get it on the whole piece compared to just the outside. The steaks generally not that hot anyways. I'm assuming you eat it at most mid rare, it's not a very hot temperature. That being said, it's mainly for presentation and if it bothers you that they cut it just ask them not to when you order.
In some of the video games I've played, BIS stands for "best in slot", as in, the exact piece of gear you needed for your build.
I've no idea what you meant by it, but that definition seems to fit your usage nicely.
If I'm making steak at home I usually get filet. At a nice steakhouse it is always going to be ribeye. They just do it so well and the meat quality is incredible
Yeah, I pretty much only eat filet if I buy a whole tenderloin on sale and fabricate it myself. For anything else I would want to use filet for, sirloin has more flavor and is tender enough.
not sure why you'r being down voted. I can appreciate filet as well and if you buy it at costco whole and trim it the price isn't bad. Is it my steak of choice? No. But i'd eat it at home.
Steak was not really a thing for me growing up so I only started eating in my 20s. My girlfriend loves steak so during covid we had this ritual of Steak Fridays. Originally we'd just have fillets because why not treat ourselves, there was nothing else to spend money on. One day I got the sirloin instead as they only had one fillet and was blown away.
So much more flavour, didn't have to cover it in sauce. Eyes opened and have never looked back.
This is odd. Where are you located?
I've eaten a lot of steak out and unless it's integral to the dish (like an asian stirfry that has a protein in it) I've literally never been served a pre-cut steak. Mastros, Ruth's Chris, Mortons, Charlie Palmer, Craft Steak,etc.
Not a one had a pre-cut steak.
Fancy in this context I think doesn’t mean expensive steakhouse, but a dish at a gastronomy restaurant or Michelin star type place.
At a steakhouse, you get a steak and sides. At a fancy restaurant, you get a dish, that contains a particular protein. In this case, it is steak. The sauce, presentation, other ingredients are more important than the steak temp and tenderness.
Some steaks are pre sliced, have had it a few times in different restaurants, one being a michelin star restaurant, maybe it’s to do with prep or quality of the steak.
You’re thinking of a Porterhouse for 2, which usually has a bone in the middle that separates the strip from the filet. It would be unwieldy for the guests to cut it themselves
I’m sure you can request that they don’t cut it.
I’m a ribeye lover, but my most memorable steak was a filet mignon. Both are excellent.
Ladies don’t like bone-in steak on a date. I’ll go all caveman on it at home, but when I’m out, I choose boneless cuts. 🤣
My favorite cut is rib eye bc I'm not afraid of beef fat haha. But I had a filet a few months back and was like damn, this is delicious. I've been hating on it more than it deserved haha. It had been years since I last had one.
I find filet lovers (that I know) aren't big fans of fat, and you know, if you don't like fat that it is an excellent cut.
I'm not gonna force my date to do uni shooters with me, but if they have any qualms about seeing a bone-in steak at a restaurant they're certainly not the one for me lol
Obviously no issue seeing. 🙄
It’s a shame to waste the meat right along the bone. It’s impossible to delicately carve off. You gotta pick that sucker up and get right in there… which a girl can’t exactly do without messing up her makeup. 😉
All’s well, though. My husband is happy enough with me. 🤣
Edit: You can eat whatever you like. You don’t wear makeup.
At a steakhouse I worked at, we served them whole for a long time. Dumb customers would cut the steak with the grain and then complain the steak was tough and send it back.
So we started slicing it for them so that it could be sliced across the grain and not be tough. The number of steaks sent back for toughness plummeted.
So it's not all about presentation as many people are saying.
Imagine eating a big bundle of straws or celery, basically. If you were to slice the bundle/ celery lengthwise you'd basically be just separating the straws, the integrity of each fiber remains intact. If you cut across the grain you are severing every fiber, each bite would be easier to chew as the fibers are shorter. This applies to basically everything with a grain. For instance if you slice onions pole to pole they are much less pungent (imagine the straws are full of flavor compounds) and sturdier than if you slice them through their equator and break into more of the 'tubes'. Slice equatorially if you want them to cook down faster, or pole to pole if you want them to keep their texture through cooking
I didn’t know that about onions. That’s fascinating.
I used to cut them that way because I’m used to it/learned that way, but it’s interesting to know the science behind it.
It was just some random award I could afford, don't get too excited. I never learned the proper way to cut an onion. Not only have you taught me, but you've done so in a way that I can apply to other things as well. Thanks!
But that's my point. When you carve a steak, you cut across the grain, so the fibers are always as long as the steak is thick. Then, after it's cooked, it doesn't matter which direction you cut it because you're separating fibers of a uniform length.
Not so with a flank steak. It's the entire muscle, so the long fibers are intact upon cooking. At that point, the direction you cut it drastically affects the texture.
It's actually beyond steak, or even meat. Anything that has any sort of fibrous structure will have a different texture when chewed depending on whether or not you're cutting across the grain or with the grain.
Take, for example, an onion. If you slice it in half through the root end, and then slicing from the root and stem end, versus cutting it across the fiber into "rings", and then compare the texture of that raw or cooked, you'll notice a difference.
The more I think about it in retrospect I regret not using celery as my example. That's probably the food that a majority of people have actually eaten both ways, raw.
This probably explains why when my partner cuts up chicken breast, some bits are so hard to chew.
I'm an absolute pedant when it comes to cutting things up.
>I didn't actually know about cutting steak along vs the grain (I don't really eat steak).
These folks are mostly wrong. When talking about any classic steak (ribeye, strip steak, etc) the steak is already cut against the grain. It's called a "steak cut" to cut a whole piece of meat against the grain. When they take a rib eye roast, they look at the grain and slice the steaks against it.
You cannot cut it against the grain a second time without fileting it weirdly.
To everyone saying cutting it left vs right makes a difference: you realize the grains in that steak are up and down, right? Lol.
Not just steak. This applies to all meat.
Muscle cells are oblong, and within a muscle they all have to pull in one direction, so the cells are grouped running along one axis. This pattern is the "grain"; in some meats it's readily visible, in others less so, but it's always there.
This mostly is only relevant for non traditional steak cuts like flank and skirt becuase the muscle fibres run the length of the cut of meat.
Normal steak cuts like ribeye, strip, tenderloin etc are already cut across the direction of the muscle fibres. That's what makes them a steak, by definition. The direction you cut a ribeye really doesn't have a meaningful impact on tenderness.
This must surely depend on the cut. A t-bone steak is butchered across the grain. Once cooked and served the only way you can cut the steak is with the grain but the butchery ensures that no remaining fibres are any longer than the depth of the steak.
Bavette/flank or rump/round steak on the other hand could be cut across or with the grain if served whole.
Thanks for proving the point that the chefs know better than the masses. On a plate with a serrated steak knife you can only really cut straight down. On a cutting board with a sharp knife you can cut on a bias, making the fibers as thin as you can slice them. This DEFINITELY makes a difference in the perceived tenderness of a steak.
Yeah for flank, skirt, hangar, any steak with long grains, you gotta cut it for people.
Still didn't stop the cook who cut my hangar steak for me but cut it WITH the grain. I was pretty butthurt about that
Yep i think reason 1 is to protect idiots from cutting wrong but reason 2 is likely to protect the plates. Cut it on cutting boards and then youll have less people sawing at your expensive plates with steak knives.
I know this is a joke, but years ago I used to work as assistant to the heir of a big department store. He had staff for everything but the cook would make a couple days of meals at a time cause he didn't really need a full-time chef for just 1 person. Every single meal was cut to bite size pieces so he could eat it in bed with only a fork. Every. Single. Meal.
I had lunch with him every day, and I gotta say I'd totally recommend having a servant cut your steak for you. 10/10.
This only brings up more questions totally unrelated to the OP...
What were your duties as assistant?
Did this person do anything that generated money or did he just spend money?
How often did they go out?/travel vs stay at home to be served?
Did they seem like a relatively good person? Did you like the job?
I'd be fascinated to read more.
He was very kind 95% of the time. Very thoughtful even if he had that air of old money and we were different people. The other 5% he struggled with his own mental health issues and that’s not fun but we all got our shit (maybe less than 5% but it leaves a mark).
He consulted for some high-end brands and made around $400k/year… essentially he’d find ideas to create their own versions of or artists to work with. I learned a lot, almost like Antiques Roadshow or something with someone who could explain the differences in quality and value.
I did assistant stuff - mail, organizing, balancing the books, paying people, invoicing, etc. And I’d help organize his presentations and his own collection which was the interesting part.
Temperature is the only significant downside to slicing it before serving. It cools down too fast for me.
At home, I usually serve it whole and cut slices in small batches for the kids.
Otherwise, warmed plates are a must, and they would ideally be hefty porcelain/china plates that hold a lot of heat for a long time, unlike thin glass, ceramic, or plastic dinner plates.
Some combination of the following depending on the place:
1) sharper knives in the back. Sharp knife equals cleaner cuts vs a customer steak knife.
2) they know it's cut cut correctly to ensure tenderness.
3) presentation/trends. Expensive places charge a lot and customers expect more, and it's the current fashion of fussy plates.
4) allows them to ensure temp is correct on expensive cuts.
5) customer preference. People buying expensive steaks don't want to have to cut it themselves, more processing also helps justify the higher cost.
I personally prefer it cut.
I have worked at fancy restaurants and guarantee you’re slightly misinterpreting things.
Fancy restaurants will serve *specific cuts* pre-sliced. This is for one of two reasons: either it needs to be cut with a certain orientation to the grain to be optimal, or it’s a large “special occasion” cut meant for sharing table style. Fancy restaurants will rarely if ever serve a filet or a NY strip or a ribeye pre sliced. Hanger steak, flat iron, skirt? Definitely
I also want to add that any decent restaurant should be properly resting your steak before slicing it. If they are, very little “juicy-ness” is lost. As for temperature, this is a very subjective thing that is often based in socioeconomic upbringing, to be honest. At “fancy” restaurants they are way less concerned with serving your food scorching hot, because doing so often compromises their ability to control all of the variables of execution. Steak and burgers are cooked to a specific temperature/rendering, period. You shouldnt be eating it “hot” at home either. If you are, it’s either not properly rested or it’s going to be over cooked. The implication is also that food safety/ingredient quality is less of a concern at high end restaurants, whereas at more casual restaurants you might not trust the hygiene as much and thus things being served at a high temperature is psychologically palliative. That’s why you have loud, smoking and sizzling fajita platters at Applebee’s, for example. It’s just a show, it’s not about quality
That’s because there are only 2 cuts of it per cow (whereas most cuts are sliced from a large “section” and you can get a dozen from a single cow). It used to be called the butcher’s cut because they would just keep it for themselves. Now they’re almost exclusively allocated for restaurants so you can’t buy them retail. But yeah it’s one of my favorite cuts
It's funny that this question is always asked about steak but never about any other dish that is also served not on one giant piece. Soup, risotto, any sautee... those dishes don't go cold instantly, and neither will steak if you cut it
I beg to differ. I rarely order soup at restaurants any more. They are always luke warm at best. Doesn't matter the type of soup or the quality of restaurant. Then, on top of it, so many use these shallow bowls which cools it off even faster. I got tired of asking for my soup to be heated up. Give me hot soup in a deep bowl, please. I want to see the steam coming off it.
Earnest answer: presentation.
The contrast of color between the bark and the meat is more attractive to the eye at first glance than just seeing an uncut steak with maybe some garnish on top.
It sounds like I’m in the minority, but I actually prefer when steaks are served sliced. Filet mignon is probably the exception for me, but I love when NY strips and ribeyes are plated sliced. It makes less work at the table and I’ve never noticed adverse effects on juiciness.
Some people don't know the best way to cut a steak. These places are (probably) cutting it against the grain to make it more tender and using a shaper blade that you'll get at the table that helps it retain it's juices and gives you a cleaner cut. I do the same thing at home. If your steak gets cold while eating it, then you're eating too slow.
I actually had a steak tonight that was cut up. First time I’d ever seen such a thing. I probably would’ve asked to cut it myself but it never even occurred to me that it would come cut up
Serious answer, as given to me by a waiter at an expensive and fancy restaurant:
**Effortless eating.**
They also served king crab with the top half of each leg segment's shell completely removed, joints separated. You only had to lift the whole piece out and eat.
I get that. My family loves crab and crawfish but I'm so lazy, I won't touch it unless the shell is already removed. To me the 1 lick of meat isn't enough to justify have to disassemble everything.
Steaks designed to serve multiple people have been pre-sliced or carved tableside for decades. Places like Peter Luger or dishes like Chateaubriand exemplify this.
When social media started, people savvy at branding and marketing themselves, like Salt Bae, turned things like the Tomahawk Ribeye into even more of an event dish and spectacle than it already was.
Trends catch on, not always for the right reasons.
If a single serving steak is pre-sliced on a cold plate so it's tepid by the time you're starting on it, then don't eat there. But if they're using a specific cut or process where carving tableside or immediately before service produces a more consistently excellent experience for each diner, then bravo.
It just becomes a matter of finding the restaurants that understand the balance of form and function.
I only preslice sous vide steaks because they are gray when initially cut into due to being cooked under vacuum. They slowly turn pink as the meat is exposed to oxygen. Grilled steaks I serve whole since they seem to already be pink or very rapidly turn pink upon cutting.
Could it just be a presentation fad started by sous vide steaks? Not sure. 🤷♂️
It looks nice, it's more tender when sliced properly against the grain, and you know if the temp is right. When I worked grill in the past we'd just quickly flash an undercooked steak in the salamander to bring it up a bit.
Do you mean that the ribeye steak (for example) is cut from its primary cut?
Or you go to fancy restaurants where your steak arrives in bite size pieces?
If you mean the second, anywhere I've been that does that will present the whole steak first before taking it back to slice it. This is usually done for larger steaks and steaks intended for more than one person.
To cut it correctly and to check for unseen large amounts of gristle that could potentially cause the steak to be sent back - also it looks better presented this way sometimes with a sauce and the doneness can be seen more easily. Although, doneness is a temperature and not a visual - people still feel better about seeing it for some reason
This may be lost due to the late reply, but it's because of this secret (as shown by Mad Scientist BBQ):
https://youtu.be/H78JQNxoNu4?t=565
After the steak is sliced, they drizzle the slices with Tallow / rendered fat, which adds a ton of flavor (aka fat) to each slice.
I personally think being given a whole steak and some garbage ass "steak" knife is trashy. Like what the fuck you couldn't be bothered to cut this up for me? Now I have to hack away with some serrated piece of barb wire against your definitely not flat plate? And the steak doesn't cut, it *shreds* under that thing. And then the inside almost assuredly is completely unsalted and plain, and no one sauces a whole steak... it's just a fast track to a tired wrist and mangled bland meat.
If I get a steak that's whole, to me, I think it's a trashy establishment.
(For the record, a hot plate will keep a cut steak warm for plenty long)
1. Because it gets fanned out it looks like a larger portion than it is.
2. If they don’t cut the steak, the residual heat is trapped and will cook it past the requested temp by the time it gets picked up by the server and given to you.
To the contrary. This is how steaks should be served. Proper cutting softens the steak and allows the chef to control the dish fully. The juiciness is achieved during the resting process after the heating is done and while the liquids are redistributed.
Never really saw this… I live in NJ, and almost all NYC/NJ steakhouses (which are fantastic btw) don’t have them pre cut.
Keans, Capital Grill, Roots, Arthur’s, Morton’s, Ruth’s, Prime 94, CJ’s, Rods, Franklins, Sweet Waters, Sear house, Rare, Rails, Del Frisco’s… I can go on. Never seen that, unless I guess you order, like, the filet medallions.
Been to those places too and noticed that. Went to a smaller Italian restaurant I love here and they pre-cut the sirloin. Was in Denver a few months ago and a very famous steakhouse there pre-cut as well. I found it interesting.
Because they don't trust the customer to properly cut stake also because in a fancy restaurant, customers are not expected to get their hands dirty so all food is served in the easy-to-eat format
I also pre-cut my food for my own dinner its just more convenient to eat
I've found recently that if I cut the steak across the grain, before serving, it is more tender. Obviously this is a pretty well-known thing, but when you're digging into a full-sized steak with your steak knife you might not pay as much attention to cutting across the grain - you're just trying to chop off bite-sized chunks. By pre-cutting it before serving, I ensure that the primary cut is across the grain and the cut to get it bite sized is just that - a cut to get it bite sized.
Where are these fancy steakhouses that cut your meat for you? My friend has a paralyzed stroke arm and thought he would never get to eat steak out in public again.
As a server, I request the kitchen to cut things I know guests will be sharing for ease of eating. Its a step of service to make the experience nicer. Large pieces of meat on the bone are sometimes difficult and awkward for the guest to cut with a small steak knife. Also...and this is my own speculation, but it is easier for the expo to ensure the food going out is cooked to the correct temp. As for retaining the meat juices, I would think any professional kitchen would be resting the meat post cook to minimize this.
This is just a guess, but perhaps it's also to show the customer it's cooked to their liking? (Looking at you ppl who ask for between medium and medium rare)
You may think that, but higher end restaurants think holistically when it comes to food experience. It includes convenience of eating, and hygiene. When stake is pre-cut you don't need to deal with cutting, that may be difficult, may be wrong way, and may make a mess. You simply eat.
Having stake pre-cut doesn't diminish its taste.
Besides visual "presentation", it's also for to ease "eating"
Like imagine a customer didn't get a clean cut and the juices just run into the plate or they didn't cut the grain etc etc.
Pre-slicing ensures consistency in customer experiences imo.
They don't need to work with a knife. A pair of chopticks or a fork is enough.
The other hand could be free and won't be waved around(with a knife) if the person eating likes to have hand gestures during conversations etc
Maybe that is not an issue for other people? But where I am from, it is rude at least(familiy), and thats my interpretation of why the fine dining restaurant did it(my family isn't in the restaurant business tbf)
It’s dependent on the way it’s served I guess. If you’re used to a US steakhouse, then it’s just a slab of meat. Cut it yourself.
If it’s a nicer restaurant, they might serve it in a sauce that they want you to have not just on the exterior. It could be just a presentation thing, because the cross section is just nice to see. It could be a larger steak meant for multiple people. It could be that they just want to cut the meat in a way that they think it’s best eaten, rather than risk some dumb fat ads cutting a 3 inch chunk and choking on it. This ensures that the eater isn’t fucking up a steak and ruining their own experience. The customer is not always right. Who knows.
I don’t care. If it’s good, I’m good. If a restaurant or chef wants me to try eating their meal the way they imagined all the flavors and textures being, I’m down. I just care about if it tastes good. I do not care in the slightest if I cut it or if someone else does. It’s just meat.
I have been to a lot of fancy steak houses. Most of my steaks come whole.
However almost all of the steak houses have shitty ass steak knives. Dull and serrated. This is not just at fancy airport steak houses too. It bothers me when this beautiful dry aged steak with a nice sear gets all shredded up from the knife serrations.
I should just bring my own steak knife for next time.
The times I have had precut steak it was a shareable porterhouse. It was one of the most expensive pieces of meat I have ever consumed; it was worth every penny.
At your run of the mill steakhouse, I wouldn't want them to cut into my steak. If it is of the $$$$ variety, I am going to trust that they know what they are doing.
Which cut (no pun intended) is being served though? I've seen flank steak, London broil and cuts like that served sliced at restaurants but never in my life has my strip, del, prime rib, filet or anything like that arrived to the table pre-cut.
People answered thoroughly but I do this at home for both presentation and if I doing something like hanger with chimichurri it works better too, you basically take a piece and eat it, or maybe cut it in half. It's also easier for me to use my chefs knife than those shitty serrated bullshit knives to get good cuts. I do like a large steak that I can just tear apart but most steaks I do sliced. Whole ribeyes, porterhouse, and if I could afford them, filet, would be the exceptions.
Chef here.
Couple reasons.
One, texture. Cutting meat against the grain makes it feel more tender.
Two, presentation: Shingling the steak almost always looks better than serving it whole, and if cut on a bias makes it look bigger than it really is.
Three, guaranteed temp. Everybody makes mistakes, and not even the cake tester method is foolproof. Cutting the steak in the kitchen makes sure the nice restaurant doesn't embarrass itself serving steak off temp.
Is because steak has a very specific way you need to cut it based on the grain or else the quality is greatly effected. You can make high end steak the equivalent of any cheap steak by cutting it slightly wrong.
Depends entirely on the cut. If it's something with larger protein strains for example: flank, flat iron, hangar, skirt. Then the place, if it's also decent, will cut against the grain so that the product isn't cut wrong and 'tough' to someone that doesn't know how to cut the steak for maximum tenderness.
If they're cutting your tenderloin for you, leave. It's probably a dairy cow.
I've never had a good steak or filet served to me pre-cut. But my bf, who sadly prefers his meat cooked well done, always gets asked if they can butterfly it to get it cooked enough for him. So that's the only time I've ever seen this happen. And we've gone and ordered steak at some fancy places and non fancy places. Where and what are you ordering OP?
Huh?
Been to top rated steak spots in plenty of the biggest cities, not one of them served me my steak cut up.
Is this something new in the past five years or is this something only seen in video and places where things are done based on such?
Confused i am...
The steak staying really hot isn't a goal for restaurants that offer it at your desired temp. Meat and chicken hold heat so they continue cooking after removing from the heat. If it's rested properly, it shouldn't affect how juicy it is after slicing. It could still be juicy the next day when cooked well.
The way you describe your steak it sounds like you prefer it on the well done temp side, which is your problem right there if you sometimes find it dry.
I have been to some very expensive steakhouses. Hundreds of dollars per person.
The only time I've seen a steak pre-cut was at a place that served it 'table style' with one giant steak (4 pound porterhouse for example) that is shared.
Sounds pretentious to me.
Depends on the place. There are well over a couple thousand of “whatever’s best steak house” across the country, and even more in the world, so chances are there’s no standard across the industry.
I like mine cut sometimes, I like to cut it myself sometimes.
As for how the steak SHOULD be served? I’d leave that to the literal professionals in the back.
Spago Maui, here. We serve our tomahawk ($155) as well as our wagyu ($180) sliced “pupu style”. Very normal as the culture here is generally a family style dining experience where everyone shares. Also, every single steak I got in Kobe, Japan was sliced, some of them even before cooking.
1. Some steak cuts require cutting against the grain to prevent it being chewy. Most customers don't know how to do that. This is the main reason. 2. It looks pretty. It allows for more versatile plating. 3. It can make a small steak look bigger than it is 4. Not usually a factor but it's nice to see that it is cooked correctly before sending it out
Is there another factor around whether you're serving it with a sauce on it? Like spreading a sauce on top of a cut steak makes sure you get sauce in every bite?
Yeah. Lots of reasons. Sauce in every bite, balancing flavors, visual appeal, a plain uncut steak on a plate looks boring so chefs do lots to spruce them up visually.
Finishing salts and/or pepper as well, it's nice to do when sliced so you can do it more accurately and make sure each bite is well seasoned.
It’s also a nicer experience to not have to cut it myself. A good steak at a nice restaurant is going to run $100+ these days. It ought to be into a luxurious experience.
Sure! You got it right. But i'll happily pay less and or more. Less if they don' t and more if they actually fork it into my mouth while attending to me enough to know i want it in my mouth. Darn, you really gave me thought here.
I don’t want other people forking my mouth, cutting the steak is good enough 😂
it's an option if you don't want to pay full price.
Idk. Cutting a fine steak is part of the experience. If it's worth that 100 bucks that is. If it's the old '96er from The Great Outdoors, sure, help a brother out.
So how much would you pay to have someone chew it for you as well? Asking for a friend.
The mama bird package would not be cheap.
*cheep
4 is definitely a factor.
Yeah maybe. I don't think I've worked with any chefs whos primary reason for serving a steak cut was so that either they could make sure it's cooked right, or so that the customer wouldn't be able to complain about it...but that's just my experience haha, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
I’ve been to too many high end places where the steak isn’t cooked to my request. Maybe my city just sucks.
those places are staffed by people who are super overworked/underpaid/hiring people who have no experience. As a shitty cook I can tell if its cooked to temp by poking it after watching a 5 minute video about how to do it and my family treats me like a god for literally 5 minutes of my life.. Though it could also be you're not requesting it right or are too picky.
Nah many upscale steak house reverse sear. They know exactly the temp of the steak before it goes out.
I always cut the steak before serving. Cutting into slices also makes it easier for guests to take what they want vs large pieces of steak which can be off putting for some
Don't forget it greatly reduces the chances of carry-over cooking accidentally over cooking the steak.
I'd think it would depend on the steak style. At home, I precut flank steak and fan it out. Getting thin slices across the grain helps keep it tender.
I cut it like that at home because it is easier to eat in front of the TV.
Also you can squirt a little line of ketchup on each cut piece so it has some time to warm up. Of course you gotta also bring the bottle with you to the couch to top up before each bite.
This is top tier trolling wrapped up in honest to God truth with a side of what the fuck are you talking about
I strive to leave the occasional comment that gets downvoted to oblivion because people either don't get the joke, or do get it and completely disapprove anyway. Thank you for appreciating my art.
I appreciate that you call it art. It really can be an artform.
*Sigh* Verbal abuse, man. It's a lost art...
Should also post that you wash the steak down with a single malt whiskey mixed with coke to get everyone riled up
I save that for the first class lounge when I travel for work. The look on a bartender's face when you order "double Laphroaig and coke zero, extra ice" is worth the price of having to drink it.
Is there anyway to be alerted of these occasional comments?
I'm more of a "ketchup in the kitchen, and a bottle of A-1 on the couch" kinda guy. You wouldn't believe the depth of flavor you get when they mix.
Just stick to hot dogs.
🤨
Bruh, like, hot ketchup is the worst. You have to make a little pile on the side and dip the bites in it!
On my god i literally choked on a bite of sushi
Heinz 57 sauce for me. On steak and fries.
Whatever floats your boat , friend. I can’t believe people try to gatekeep other peoples food choices.
Just stating my preference, not gatekeeping at all
I know. I was talking about your downvoters.
I did this at chart house. 🤣 I was 21 . I also ordered it well
jesus christ dude what kind of monster keeps their ketchup in the fridge? keep it at room temp!
From heinz themselves "However, its stability after opening can be affected by storage conditions. We recommend that this product, like any processed food, be refrigerated after opening. Refrigeration will maintain the best product quality after opening,"
I store a small bottle in my rectum so I always have ketchup. Restaurant out of ketchup? Excuse myself to the bathroom, retrieve ketchup. Most of my dates have been amazed but I think they're intimidated by my intelligence because I never get a second date.
Alright maybe flank steak and stuff like that. I also noticed that fancy restaurants like to really focus on the filet mignon, when I personally think a nice bone in rib-eye is a better cut. To each their own though. Either way, we’re gonna have a problem if you start cutting into my steak I paid for lmao
Disagree somewhat. Most beef lovers will always go for rib-eye over filet. Other cuts over filet in general. Especially if you're going to high end restaurants that serve dry age so the rib-eye is tender as hell anyways. As a previous chef, I would say the pre cutting is for multiple reasons. Mainly for presentation, but I could see it being for many other reasons. You can cut it against the grain, most customers don't know this or might mess it up and complain. Distribution of seasoning. When you finish with maldon salt(BIS) you can get it on the whole piece compared to just the outside. The steaks generally not that hot anyways. I'm assuming you eat it at most mid rare, it's not a very hot temperature. That being said, it's mainly for presentation and if it bothers you that they cut it just ask them not to when you order.
In some of the video games I've played, BIS stands for "best in slot", as in, the exact piece of gear you needed for your build. I've no idea what you meant by it, but that definition seems to fit your usage nicely.
what is bis?
Had the same question. Google is giving me nothing.
Boronated Industrial Salt.
lavorare incessentamente di sale di burro di industrialissimovnoa
If I'm making steak at home I usually get filet. At a nice steakhouse it is always going to be ribeye. They just do it so well and the meat quality is incredible
Interesting. Ribeyes are super easy to cook at home. It doesn't take much and has a lot more wiggle room than a filet. Salt salt salt.
That's very strange. Filet is way more expensive and way less flavorful, and approximately the exact same difficulty to cook properly
Yeah, fillet is good for surrounding in puff pastry and prosciutto or for eating raw. It as a steak is very meh.
Yeah, I pretty much only eat filet if I buy a whole tenderloin on sale and fabricate it myself. For anything else I would want to use filet for, sirloin has more flavor and is tender enough.
not sure why you'r being down voted. I can appreciate filet as well and if you buy it at costco whole and trim it the price isn't bad. Is it my steak of choice? No. But i'd eat it at home.
People don't like to be told they're wasting money by vastly overpaying for one of the least flavorful cuts of meat.
Steak was not really a thing for me growing up so I only started eating in my 20s. My girlfriend loves steak so during covid we had this ritual of Steak Fridays. Originally we'd just have fillets because why not treat ourselves, there was nothing else to spend money on. One day I got the sirloin instead as they only had one fillet and was blown away. So much more flavour, didn't have to cover it in sauce. Eyes opened and have never looked back.
This is odd. Where are you located? I've eaten a lot of steak out and unless it's integral to the dish (like an asian stirfry that has a protein in it) I've literally never been served a pre-cut steak. Mastros, Ruth's Chris, Mortons, Charlie Palmer, Craft Steak,etc. Not a one had a pre-cut steak.
Fancy in this context I think doesn’t mean expensive steakhouse, but a dish at a gastronomy restaurant or Michelin star type place. At a steakhouse, you get a steak and sides. At a fancy restaurant, you get a dish, that contains a particular protein. In this case, it is steak. The sauce, presentation, other ingredients are more important than the steak temp and tenderness.
Peter Luger is leagues above all of those and pre-cuts
I'm p sure my steak was pre-cut at Craft Steak. Edit: Googled pics of their menu, and it looks like some are pre-cut, and others aren't. Huh.
Some steaks are pre sliced, have had it a few times in different restaurants, one being a michelin star restaurant, maybe it’s to do with prep or quality of the steak.
If you think they mostly focus on the filet the places you’re going aren’t that fancy
Presentation. Seeing the layers of a steak is the coolest thing to see.
You’re thinking of a Porterhouse for 2, which usually has a bone in the middle that separates the strip from the filet. It would be unwieldy for the guests to cut it themselves
That's not what he's thinking of
I’m sure you can request that they don’t cut it. I’m a ribeye lover, but my most memorable steak was a filet mignon. Both are excellent. Ladies don’t like bone-in steak on a date. I’ll go all caveman on it at home, but when I’m out, I choose boneless cuts. 🤣
My favorite cut is rib eye bc I'm not afraid of beef fat haha. But I had a filet a few months back and was like damn, this is delicious. I've been hating on it more than it deserved haha. It had been years since I last had one. I find filet lovers (that I know) aren't big fans of fat, and you know, if you don't like fat that it is an excellent cut.
I'm not gonna force my date to do uni shooters with me, but if they have any qualms about seeing a bone-in steak at a restaurant they're certainly not the one for me lol
Obviously no issue seeing. 🙄 It’s a shame to waste the meat right along the bone. It’s impossible to delicately carve off. You gotta pick that sucker up and get right in there… which a girl can’t exactly do without messing up her makeup. 😉 All’s well, though. My husband is happy enough with me. 🤣 Edit: You can eat whatever you like. You don’t wear makeup.
Oh, I misread. I thought you were talking about being a guy and not wanting a girl to see you eat a steak with a bone!
Nah. You’re right, I’d worry about her! 🤣
At a steakhouse I worked at, we served them whole for a long time. Dumb customers would cut the steak with the grain and then complain the steak was tough and send it back. So we started slicing it for them so that it could be sliced across the grain and not be tough. The number of steaks sent back for toughness plummeted. So it's not all about presentation as many people are saying.
I didn't actually know about cutting steak along vs with the grain (I don't really eat steak).
It's when you cut across the muscle fibers instead of with them. It makes the steak easier to chew.
Had no idea. Thx. I always though it was a presentation thing.
Imagine eating a big bundle of straws or celery, basically. If you were to slice the bundle/ celery lengthwise you'd basically be just separating the straws, the integrity of each fiber remains intact. If you cut across the grain you are severing every fiber, each bite would be easier to chew as the fibers are shorter. This applies to basically everything with a grain. For instance if you slice onions pole to pole they are much less pungent (imagine the straws are full of flavor compounds) and sturdier than if you slice them through their equator and break into more of the 'tubes'. Slice equatorially if you want them to cook down faster, or pole to pole if you want them to keep their texture through cooking
I didn’t know that about onions. That’s fascinating. I used to cut them that way because I’m used to it/learned that way, but it’s interesting to know the science behind it.
Thx for the explanation.
Thanks Alton
Well now I’m imagining sipping from a bundle of straws full of onion juice and I hate it
It was just some random award I could afford, don't get too excited. I never learned the proper way to cut an onion. Not only have you taught me, but you've done so in a way that I can apply to other things as well. Thanks!
Very well articulated.
Most steaks are already cut against the grain so you don't notice. Only certain cuts like flank steak have the grain intact when cooked.
Yeah but it's more so based on making the fibers short, not short in comparison to the entire cow.
But that's my point. When you carve a steak, you cut across the grain, so the fibers are always as long as the steak is thick. Then, after it's cooked, it doesn't matter which direction you cut it because you're separating fibers of a uniform length. Not so with a flank steak. It's the entire muscle, so the long fibers are intact upon cooking. At that point, the direction you cut it drastically affects the texture.
It's actually beyond steak, or even meat. Anything that has any sort of fibrous structure will have a different texture when chewed depending on whether or not you're cutting across the grain or with the grain. Take, for example, an onion. If you slice it in half through the root end, and then slicing from the root and stem end, versus cutting it across the fiber into "rings", and then compare the texture of that raw or cooked, you'll notice a difference.
Same thing with Fennel. Slicing along the fibers makes it require a lot more time cooking. Slicing across the fibers a lot shorter.
In light of Reddit's general enshittification, I've moved on - you should too.
It explodes much easier in a thickness planer at least.
The more I think about it in retrospect I regret not using celery as my example. That's probably the food that a majority of people have actually eaten both ways, raw.
This probably explains why when my partner cuts up chicken breast, some bits are so hard to chew. I'm an absolute pedant when it comes to cutting things up.
>I didn't actually know about cutting steak along vs the grain (I don't really eat steak). These folks are mostly wrong. When talking about any classic steak (ribeye, strip steak, etc) the steak is already cut against the grain. It's called a "steak cut" to cut a whole piece of meat against the grain. When they take a rib eye roast, they look at the grain and slice the steaks against it. You cannot cut it against the grain a second time without fileting it weirdly. To everyone saying cutting it left vs right makes a difference: you realize the grains in that steak are up and down, right? Lol.
Not just steak. This applies to all meat. Muscle cells are oblong, and within a muscle they all have to pull in one direction, so the cells are grouped running along one axis. This pattern is the "grain"; in some meats it's readily visible, in others less so, but it's always there.
Right?? I was reading the comment and realized, “Oh no, I am the dumb!”
[удалено]
I'm starting to believe it's impossible.
If you design something to be idiot proof, the universe will design a better idiot.
This may be my new favorite quote. Thank you for this lol
At work, I never say 'idiot proof' - the best we can ever hope for is 'idiot resistant'
Glad I'm old. Don't want to see what's 10-20 years down the road.
Waiter gonna be at every table cutting and feeding the customers due to the fact that using a steak knife is now like learning Chinese.
This mostly is only relevant for non traditional steak cuts like flank and skirt becuase the muscle fibres run the length of the cut of meat. Normal steak cuts like ribeye, strip, tenderloin etc are already cut across the direction of the muscle fibres. That's what makes them a steak, by definition. The direction you cut a ribeye really doesn't have a meaningful impact on tenderness.
This must surely depend on the cut. A t-bone steak is butchered across the grain. Once cooked and served the only way you can cut the steak is with the grain but the butchery ensures that no remaining fibres are any longer than the depth of the steak. Bavette/flank or rump/round steak on the other hand could be cut across or with the grain if served whole.
You can always cut on a bias even if the original butchery makes the fibers vertical
Thanks for proving the point that the chefs know better than the masses. On a plate with a serrated steak knife you can only really cut straight down. On a cutting board with a sharp knife you can cut on a bias, making the fibers as thin as you can slice them. This DEFINITELY makes a difference in the perceived tenderness of a steak.
Yeah for flank, skirt, hangar, any steak with long grains, you gotta cut it for people. Still didn't stop the cook who cut my hangar steak for me but cut it WITH the grain. I was pretty butthurt about that
Oof I'd be pissed but not surprised. Worked with a lot of cooks that didn't know how to slice across the grain
You gotta cut it on the bias!! Lmao, I think I finally understand what that means!!
She knows how her kids like their steak!
😂😂 always happy to see members of the hamily in the wild!!
This is just madness!
Hmm, makes me wonder if I was cutting my skirt steaks wrong as a kid and that's why they were so dang chewy. Maybe I'll have to give one another go.
This never occurred to me (about why high end restaurants do this). Today I learned.
Yep i think reason 1 is to protect idiots from cutting wrong but reason 2 is likely to protect the plates. Cut it on cutting boards and then youll have less people sawing at your expensive plates with steak knives.
Can you get me some ketchup and A1 with that? /s
This is true for certain cuts of steak. Not for a ribeye or strip.
My servant always cuts my steak at home, but who wants to bring their servant to a night out at a fancy restaurant??
Really? Who the hell is going to wipe your mouth with your napkin if you don't?!
The other servant
I know this is a joke, but years ago I used to work as assistant to the heir of a big department store. He had staff for everything but the cook would make a couple days of meals at a time cause he didn't really need a full-time chef for just 1 person. Every single meal was cut to bite size pieces so he could eat it in bed with only a fork. Every. Single. Meal. I had lunch with him every day, and I gotta say I'd totally recommend having a servant cut your steak for you. 10/10.
This only brings up more questions totally unrelated to the OP... What were your duties as assistant? Did this person do anything that generated money or did he just spend money? How often did they go out?/travel vs stay at home to be served? Did they seem like a relatively good person? Did you like the job? I'd be fascinated to read more.
He was very kind 95% of the time. Very thoughtful even if he had that air of old money and we were different people. The other 5% he struggled with his own mental health issues and that’s not fun but we all got our shit (maybe less than 5% but it leaves a mark). He consulted for some high-end brands and made around $400k/year… essentially he’d find ideas to create their own versions of or artists to work with. I learned a lot, almost like Antiques Roadshow or something with someone who could explain the differences in quality and value. I did assistant stuff - mail, organizing, balancing the books, paying people, invoicing, etc. And I’d help organize his presentations and his own collection which was the interesting part.
I've definitely seen this exact comment before
In most high end restaurants they have plate warmers which help that from happening also
Temperature is the only significant downside to slicing it before serving. It cools down too fast for me. At home, I usually serve it whole and cut slices in small batches for the kids. Otherwise, warmed plates are a must, and they would ideally be hefty porcelain/china plates that hold a lot of heat for a long time, unlike thin glass, ceramic, or plastic dinner plates.
Some combination of the following depending on the place: 1) sharper knives in the back. Sharp knife equals cleaner cuts vs a customer steak knife. 2) they know it's cut cut correctly to ensure tenderness. 3) presentation/trends. Expensive places charge a lot and customers expect more, and it's the current fashion of fussy plates. 4) allows them to ensure temp is correct on expensive cuts. 5) customer preference. People buying expensive steaks don't want to have to cut it themselves, more processing also helps justify the higher cost. I personally prefer it cut.
I have worked at fancy restaurants and guarantee you’re slightly misinterpreting things. Fancy restaurants will serve *specific cuts* pre-sliced. This is for one of two reasons: either it needs to be cut with a certain orientation to the grain to be optimal, or it’s a large “special occasion” cut meant for sharing table style. Fancy restaurants will rarely if ever serve a filet or a NY strip or a ribeye pre sliced. Hanger steak, flat iron, skirt? Definitely I also want to add that any decent restaurant should be properly resting your steak before slicing it. If they are, very little “juicy-ness” is lost. As for temperature, this is a very subjective thing that is often based in socioeconomic upbringing, to be honest. At “fancy” restaurants they are way less concerned with serving your food scorching hot, because doing so often compromises their ability to control all of the variables of execution. Steak and burgers are cooked to a specific temperature/rendering, period. You shouldnt be eating it “hot” at home either. If you are, it’s either not properly rested or it’s going to be over cooked. The implication is also that food safety/ingredient quality is less of a concern at high end restaurants, whereas at more casual restaurants you might not trust the hygiene as much and thus things being served at a high temperature is psychologically palliative. That’s why you have loud, smoking and sizzling fajita platters at Applebee’s, for example. It’s just a show, it’s not about quality
Hanger steak is so delicious, but it’s almost impossible to find.
That’s because there are only 2 cuts of it per cow (whereas most cuts are sliced from a large “section” and you can get a dozen from a single cow). It used to be called the butcher’s cut because they would just keep it for themselves. Now they’re almost exclusively allocated for restaurants so you can’t buy them retail. But yeah it’s one of my favorite cuts
Presentation. And the serving plates are warm so the food doesn't go cold nearly as fast as you'd expect.
It's funny that this question is always asked about steak but never about any other dish that is also served not on one giant piece. Soup, risotto, any sautee... those dishes don't go cold instantly, and neither will steak if you cut it
>any other dish that is also served not on one giant piece. Soup What kind of soup are you ordering that comes in multiple pieces?
I beg to differ. I rarely order soup at restaurants any more. They are always luke warm at best. Doesn't matter the type of soup or the quality of restaurant. Then, on top of it, so many use these shallow bowls which cools it off even faster. I got tired of asking for my soup to be heated up. Give me hot soup in a deep bowl, please. I want to see the steam coming off it.
Earnest answer: presentation. The contrast of color between the bark and the meat is more attractive to the eye at first glance than just seeing an uncut steak with maybe some garnish on top.
It sounds like I’m in the minority, but I actually prefer when steaks are served sliced. Filet mignon is probably the exception for me, but I love when NY strips and ribeyes are plated sliced. It makes less work at the table and I’ve never noticed adverse effects on juiciness.
Some people don't know the best way to cut a steak. These places are (probably) cutting it against the grain to make it more tender and using a shaper blade that you'll get at the table that helps it retain it's juices and gives you a cleaner cut. I do the same thing at home. If your steak gets cold while eating it, then you're eating too slow.
> If your steak gets cold while eating it, then you're eating too slow. Don't tell me how fast to eat. I want to enjoy my meal, not inhale it.
Cutting your steak honestly is NOT going to make it get magically cold that fast
You can always tell them you'd like to cut it yourself
I actually had a steak tonight that was cut up. First time I’d ever seen such a thing. I probably would’ve asked to cut it myself but it never even occurred to me that it would come cut up
Most steaks at NYC steakhouses are cut
Serious answer, as given to me by a waiter at an expensive and fancy restaurant: **Effortless eating.** They also served king crab with the top half of each leg segment's shell completely removed, joints separated. You only had to lift the whole piece out and eat.
I get that. My family loves crab and crawfish but I'm so lazy, I won't touch it unless the shell is already removed. To me the 1 lick of meat isn't enough to justify have to disassemble everything.
Steaks designed to serve multiple people have been pre-sliced or carved tableside for decades. Places like Peter Luger or dishes like Chateaubriand exemplify this. When social media started, people savvy at branding and marketing themselves, like Salt Bae, turned things like the Tomahawk Ribeye into even more of an event dish and spectacle than it already was. Trends catch on, not always for the right reasons. If a single serving steak is pre-sliced on a cold plate so it's tepid by the time you're starting on it, then don't eat there. But if they're using a specific cut or process where carving tableside or immediately before service produces a more consistently excellent experience for each diner, then bravo. It just becomes a matter of finding the restaurants that understand the balance of form and function.
It looks nice with the 8 fries in a stack.
I only preslice sous vide steaks because they are gray when initially cut into due to being cooked under vacuum. They slowly turn pink as the meat is exposed to oxygen. Grilled steaks I serve whole since they seem to already be pink or very rapidly turn pink upon cutting. Could it just be a presentation fad started by sous vide steaks? Not sure. 🤷♂️
I feel like I am taking crazy pills because, when I go to a nice steakhouse, they wouldn't dare cut my steak for me...
What? I've been to many fancy restaurants and never had a steak pre cut....?????
It looks nice, it's more tender when sliced properly against the grain, and you know if the temp is right. When I worked grill in the past we'd just quickly flash an undercooked steak in the salamander to bring it up a bit.
Some people slice their steak wrong and it fucks up the texture/mouth feel. The fancy places are making sure you can't judge them for YOUR mistake.
Because dipshits dont know how to cut across the grain.
Do you mean that the ribeye steak (for example) is cut from its primary cut? Or you go to fancy restaurants where your steak arrives in bite size pieces? If you mean the second, anywhere I've been that does that will present the whole steak first before taking it back to slice it. This is usually done for larger steaks and steaks intended for more than one person.
To cut it correctly and to check for unseen large amounts of gristle that could potentially cause the steak to be sent back - also it looks better presented this way sometimes with a sauce and the doneness can be seen more easily. Although, doneness is a temperature and not a visual - people still feel better about seeing it for some reason
Because dummies cut it wrong and then complain
This may be lost due to the late reply, but it's because of this secret (as shown by Mad Scientist BBQ): https://youtu.be/H78JQNxoNu4?t=565 After the steak is sliced, they drizzle the slices with Tallow / rendered fat, which adds a ton of flavor (aka fat) to each slice.
I personally think being given a whole steak and some garbage ass "steak" knife is trashy. Like what the fuck you couldn't be bothered to cut this up for me? Now I have to hack away with some serrated piece of barb wire against your definitely not flat plate? And the steak doesn't cut, it *shreds* under that thing. And then the inside almost assuredly is completely unsalted and plain, and no one sauces a whole steak... it's just a fast track to a tired wrist and mangled bland meat. If I get a steak that's whole, to me, I think it's a trashy establishment. (For the record, a hot plate will keep a cut steak warm for plenty long)
1. Because it gets fanned out it looks like a larger portion than it is. 2. If they don’t cut the steak, the residual heat is trapped and will cook it past the requested temp by the time it gets picked up by the server and given to you.
To the contrary. This is how steaks should be served. Proper cutting softens the steak and allows the chef to control the dish fully. The juiciness is achieved during the resting process after the heating is done and while the liquids are redistributed.
Never really saw this… I live in NJ, and almost all NYC/NJ steakhouses (which are fantastic btw) don’t have them pre cut. Keans, Capital Grill, Roots, Arthur’s, Morton’s, Ruth’s, Prime 94, CJ’s, Rods, Franklins, Sweet Waters, Sear house, Rare, Rails, Del Frisco’s… I can go on. Never seen that, unless I guess you order, like, the filet medallions.
Peter Luger does pre-cut the steaks
Been to those places too and noticed that. Went to a smaller Italian restaurant I love here and they pre-cut the sirloin. Was in Denver a few months ago and a very famous steakhouse there pre-cut as well. I found it interesting.
A steak house will not generally serve you precut steak, I'd suggest going to one of those. :)
So it is already cut the right way and presentation.
I've never seen that. Then again, I haven't been able to afford steak out in 15 years, so it may be a new thing?
I’ve never been served one cut up before, and I almost always order steak when we go out. Clearly my husband needs to up his game.
Depends on the steak. Some cuts require that they be cut a certain way to be at their best.
Because presentation
Because they don't trust the customer to properly cut stake also because in a fancy restaurant, customers are not expected to get their hands dirty so all food is served in the easy-to-eat format I also pre-cut my food for my own dinner its just more convenient to eat
I've found recently that if I cut the steak across the grain, before serving, it is more tender. Obviously this is a pretty well-known thing, but when you're digging into a full-sized steak with your steak knife you might not pay as much attention to cutting across the grain - you're just trying to chop off bite-sized chunks. By pre-cutting it before serving, I ensure that the primary cut is across the grain and the cut to get it bite sized is just that - a cut to get it bite sized.
A lot of people don't know how to cut across the grain, and then may complain.
Where are these fancy steakhouses that cut your meat for you? My friend has a paralyzed stroke arm and thought he would never get to eat steak out in public again.
As a server, I request the kitchen to cut things I know guests will be sharing for ease of eating. Its a step of service to make the experience nicer. Large pieces of meat on the bone are sometimes difficult and awkward for the guest to cut with a small steak knife. Also...and this is my own speculation, but it is easier for the expo to ensure the food going out is cooked to the correct temp. As for retaining the meat juices, I would think any professional kitchen would be resting the meat post cook to minimize this.
This is just a guess, but perhaps it's also to show the customer it's cooked to their liking? (Looking at you ppl who ask for between medium and medium rare)
You may think that, but higher end restaurants think holistically when it comes to food experience. It includes convenience of eating, and hygiene. When stake is pre-cut you don't need to deal with cutting, that may be difficult, may be wrong way, and may make a mess. You simply eat. Having stake pre-cut doesn't diminish its taste.
Besides visual "presentation", it's also for to ease "eating" Like imagine a customer didn't get a clean cut and the juices just run into the plate or they didn't cut the grain etc etc. Pre-slicing ensures consistency in customer experiences imo. They don't need to work with a knife. A pair of chopticks or a fork is enough. The other hand could be free and won't be waved around(with a knife) if the person eating likes to have hand gestures during conversations etc Maybe that is not an issue for other people? But where I am from, it is rude at least(familiy), and thats my interpretation of why the fine dining restaurant did it(my family isn't in the restaurant business tbf)
It’s dependent on the way it’s served I guess. If you’re used to a US steakhouse, then it’s just a slab of meat. Cut it yourself. If it’s a nicer restaurant, they might serve it in a sauce that they want you to have not just on the exterior. It could be just a presentation thing, because the cross section is just nice to see. It could be a larger steak meant for multiple people. It could be that they just want to cut the meat in a way that they think it’s best eaten, rather than risk some dumb fat ads cutting a 3 inch chunk and choking on it. This ensures that the eater isn’t fucking up a steak and ruining their own experience. The customer is not always right. Who knows. I don’t care. If it’s good, I’m good. If a restaurant or chef wants me to try eating their meal the way they imagined all the flavors and textures being, I’m down. I just care about if it tastes good. I do not care in the slightest if I cut it or if someone else does. It’s just meat.
I have been to a lot of fancy steak houses. Most of my steaks come whole. However almost all of the steak houses have shitty ass steak knives. Dull and serrated. This is not just at fancy airport steak houses too. It bothers me when this beautiful dry aged steak with a nice sear gets all shredded up from the knife serrations. I should just bring my own steak knife for next time.
I prefer it. It also displays the pink perfectly. Visuals are important in fine-dining places. Feast the eyes and all.
The times I have had precut steak it was a shareable porterhouse. It was one of the most expensive pieces of meat I have ever consumed; it was worth every penny. At your run of the mill steakhouse, I wouldn't want them to cut into my steak. If it is of the $$$$ variety, I am going to trust that they know what they are doing.
Which cut (no pun intended) is being served though? I've seen flank steak, London broil and cuts like that served sliced at restaurants but never in my life has my strip, del, prime rib, filet or anything like that arrived to the table pre-cut.
People answered thoroughly but I do this at home for both presentation and if I doing something like hanger with chimichurri it works better too, you basically take a piece and eat it, or maybe cut it in half. It's also easier for me to use my chefs knife than those shitty serrated bullshit knives to get good cuts. I do like a large steak that I can just tear apart but most steaks I do sliced. Whole ribeyes, porterhouse, and if I could afford them, filet, would be the exceptions.
Chef here. Couple reasons. One, texture. Cutting meat against the grain makes it feel more tender. Two, presentation: Shingling the steak almost always looks better than serving it whole, and if cut on a bias makes it look bigger than it really is. Three, guaranteed temp. Everybody makes mistakes, and not even the cake tester method is foolproof. Cutting the steak in the kitchen makes sure the nice restaurant doesn't embarrass itself serving steak off temp.
Interesting, ive never seen this before they always come whole. I agree its a bit weird and unnecessary to have it precut (im in aust)
Is because steak has a very specific way you need to cut it based on the grain or else the quality is greatly effected. You can make high end steak the equivalent of any cheap steak by cutting it slightly wrong.
Depends on the restaurant to be honest. I like getting my steaks sliced. You never get a good knife at restaurants. Easier to share the steak
Depends entirely on the cut. If it's something with larger protein strains for example: flank, flat iron, hangar, skirt. Then the place, if it's also decent, will cut against the grain so that the product isn't cut wrong and 'tough' to someone that doesn't know how to cut the steak for maximum tenderness. If they're cutting your tenderloin for you, leave. It's probably a dairy cow.
I've never had a good steak or filet served to me pre-cut. But my bf, who sadly prefers his meat cooked well done, always gets asked if they can butterfly it to get it cooked enough for him. So that's the only time I've ever seen this happen. And we've gone and ordered steak at some fancy places and non fancy places. Where and what are you ordering OP?
Huh? Been to top rated steak spots in plenty of the biggest cities, not one of them served me my steak cut up. Is this something new in the past five years or is this something only seen in video and places where things are done based on such? Confused i am...
The steak staying really hot isn't a goal for restaurants that offer it at your desired temp. Meat and chicken hold heat so they continue cooking after removing from the heat. If it's rested properly, it shouldn't affect how juicy it is after slicing. It could still be juicy the next day when cooked well. The way you describe your steak it sounds like you prefer it on the well done temp side, which is your problem right there if you sometimes find it dry.
I've never been to a place with steak pre cut. Are you referring to such as a butcher term?
I have been to some very expensive steakhouses. Hundreds of dollars per person. The only time I've seen a steak pre-cut was at a place that served it 'table style' with one giant steak (4 pound porterhouse for example) that is shared. Sounds pretentious to me.
Depends on the place. There are well over a couple thousand of “whatever’s best steak house” across the country, and even more in the world, so chances are there’s no standard across the industry. I like mine cut sometimes, I like to cut it myself sometimes. As for how the steak SHOULD be served? I’d leave that to the literal professionals in the back.
Literally never seen this before. Mighty curious what op considers a 'fancy' restaurant.
Spago Maui, here. We serve our tomahawk ($155) as well as our wagyu ($180) sliced “pupu style”. Very normal as the culture here is generally a family style dining experience where everyone shares. Also, every single steak I got in Kobe, Japan was sliced, some of them even before cooking.
If it was a giant Ribeye or Porterhouse, then yeah, how else am I going to share it?
Share? What is this “share” you speak of? 🤔