You read the commentary of the chattering class on our sundry culinary websites, and it’s hard not to believe that we’ve entered a brave new world of plant-based everything — sushi, hamburgers, hot dogs, seafood, chicken and steaks — which are the bête noir of those who pontificate on the future of dining out.
Turn to the financial pages, and it’s hard not to believe that we’re subsisting on soups made from boiling paper crumbs from our overworked home shredders, where we’ve been eliminating any proof of our political incorrectness.
And yet, how are we to explain the sudden explosion of hyper high-end steak houses throughout SoCal — big dollar, jumbo beef joints where that super prime dry-aged Wagyu tomahawk steak said goodbye to the hundred dollar mark a long time ago.
We’re spending big bucks on big meat, with appetizers costing more than entrées in regular folk restaurants, and a glass of wine going for more than a bottle used to. And the places are packed, jammed with serious looking people who arrive in spit-polished Teslas. Did they all make a bundle in crypto?
Along with our long list of classic steak houses — legends like Musso & Frank, Taylor’s, Pacific Dining Car — in recent times the list of beefy destinations has added such hot spots as Steak 48 in Beverly Hills, Terra in Century City, American Beauty in Venice, Porterhouse in El Segundo and Slay Steak & Fish House in Manhattan Beach.
More recently, Valleyites hungry for buzzwords like filet, strip, ribeye and bone-in have been flocking to BLVD Steak on Ventura in Sherman Oaks, with its private, glass-front dining room and wine cellar — and its bar peopled by mixologists whose hands never stop moving.
It’s also very much a place to see and be seen. One chilly night, with the temps sliding into the 40s, I dropped by the bar for a snack and some liquid refreshment. Seated next to me were a pair of young women in halter tops with matching leather miniskirts. They were…
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