
Today’s Wall Street Journal has an interesting article by Jessica Firger about Master Purveyors, supplier to many of New York’s “institution” steakhouses like Keens and Peter Luger. The old-school butcher is one of the last remaining companies in N.Y. that specializes in “Prime” cuts of beef, which need to be cut, hung and handled entirely by hand to ensure the high quality meat retains its “Prime” classification and to make sure it is perfect when cooked and subsequently devoured.
The meat has just completed an overnight haul from Chicago, but its journey through one of the world’s largest wholesale food markets to the plates of New York City’s finest steakhouses has just begun. “This came to us today and it was walking on Friday,” says Sam Solasz, 83 years old, who opened wholesaler Master Purveyors more than 50 years ago.
Master Purveyors specializes in prime fresh and dry-aged Angus beef, served at renowned restaurants like Keens Steakhouse, Peter Luger, Wolfgang’s Steakhouse, Gotham Bar and Grill and the Four Seasons, as well as at markets like Fairway. Only 2% of U.S. cattle are graded “prime,” a label that normally commands twice the price of “choice” or “select” meats.
“We’re the last of the Mohicans,” says Mark Solasz, 48, assistant vice president at Master Purveyors and Sam Solasz’s youngest son. “It’s a dying industry because it’s hard work.”
Read the entire article here.
Photos by Natalie Keyssar for The Wall Street Journal.