This week at COOK Eric Schlicht, Chef de Cuisine at Urban Farmer in The Logan Philadelphia, showcased the virtues of sustainable, local meat and produce. The mouth-watering Angus ribeye stole the show as well as everyone’s hearts. Eric and his fellow Urban Farmer chefs Sunny and Mike grilled two styles of ribeyes, one non-aged and one aged 280 days! Urban Farmer partners with many local farms and vendors to supply their restaurant with high quality meat, dairy, produce and more. Since Urban Farmer is a modern steakhouse, I wanted to highlight how Chef Eric and Urban Farmer works with local family farms to source their beef.

Urban Farmer has four locations: Denver, Cleveland, Portland and Philadelphia. Their mission at all four is the same: to provide a modern steakhouse experience utilizing locally-sourced products. Behind all the food in our lives is a story – where that food was grown or raised, the people behind its production, the transportation, etc.  Urban Farmer tells the story of each carefully selected ingredient through its beautifully-plated dishes and honesty. Chef de Cuisine Eric Schlicht presented the story of Urban Farmers’ locally procured beef through a fourth course meal at COOK named after the cattle farm purveyor, “Pewter Valley Provisions“.

“Pewter Valley Provisions”
old and new Herr Angus Farm ribeye, Tuscarora Farms maroon carrot, pomme puree

Where’s The Beef… from?

During dinner service, Chef Eric said, “it’s not just a steak on a plate, a lot of time, care and people went into it”. That is precisely why Eric visited the farm where Urban Farmer obtains its beef.  Pewter Valley Provisions markets the Angus cattle from Herr’s Angus Farm in Nottingham, PA. Herr’s Angus Farm has an interesting approach to feeding its cattle. The Angus cows are started on a grass diet and remain on that regiment until very late in their life. Their last 120 days the cows get put on a diet of assorted Herr’s corn products. And, yes, the Herr’s Angus Farm is owned by Herr’s, the snack and potato chip company! Before the flavorings are added, any misshapen chips, popcorn and more Herr’s products are sent their Angus farm to “beef” up the cattle. This results in some very happy cows. Eric described the cows on Herr’s farm as playful and loving; the cows will follow you around and even play jokes on you!

Old & New

Aside from being delicious, the steak course Eric created was designed to give guests an experience. On the left side was an Angus ribeye aged for 280 days in the dry-aging room at Urban Farmer. On the right side was a fresh ribeye from the same Angus breed cattle. So what exactly does dry-aging do to the steak? Well, when I visited Urban Farmer and spoke with their butcher he told me that the natural enzymes in the meat break down the muscle tissue resulting in a more flavorful and tender steak. The overwhelming majority of COOK guests preferred the dry-aged ribeye over the fresh.

Both ribeye steaks, aged and new, were cooked the same way: grilled rare, rested and then finished in the oven. Chef Eric explained that he prefers to rest his steaks because it allows for all the juices to remain inside the meat. That way when you cut into it your steak, juices don’t run all over your plate. When it comes to seasoning, “don’t overthink it,” Chef Eric told COOK guests. Salt and pepper is all you need when seasoning a good quality steak; no marinades necessary!

If you plan on heading to Urban Farmer, look into the kitchen to see if Chef Eric is there. Tell him you learned about their aging room and their partnership with Herr’s Angus Farm from COOK. As long as he isn’t slammed, Eric enjoys giving customers tours of the kitchen and the aging room. He is very open and honest about their practices and has nothing to hide as they keep a very clean kitchen and workspace. Lastly, next time you are cooking steaks at home, remember the tips from Chef Eric, and also remember we have a great variety of salts for sale here at COOK!