Steakhouses are not unique to the United States. The Spanish and Argentinians have them and call them asadores. The English have them and call them chophouses. But they are undoubtedly a very American thing. A touch of history, old wood, a whiff of smoke and a hint of money: A great American steakhouse is a combination of all of the above.
My favorite steakhouse? That’s a tough one, but I’d have to give a shout out to the Okeechobee Grill, established in 1947, a modest little spot (at least from the outside) on the wrong side of the tracks in West Palm Beach, Florida. Heavens, does it look the part – and taste it.
As does Benjamin Steakhouse – the restaurant founded in 2010 by two Benjamins, Ben Sinanaj and Benjamin Prelvukaj, Peter Luger alumni whose mothership is on 41st Street in Manhattan. So it’s not surprising that the Hartsdale restaurant was near-capacity in its two expansive first-floor dining rooms on my recent Sunday night visit.
Seating here is eminently comfortable, with round tables as well as generous square ones where two can eat comfortably at right-angles to one another, rather than opposite, a seating arrangement I favor. For one thing it makes for better hearing. You are less inclined to shout. (Beware: Benjamin is not a quiet restaurant, but as these things go, nor is it a horrendously noisy one.) With handsome parquet floors, leather aplenty, Tiffany lamps and a log fire burning, the designer has cleverly given Benjamin the requisite patina of age. It feels clubby, a restaurant of substance, but also cozy and intimate. (By the way, it also wins my prize for the most tasteful restaurant Christmas decorations.)
In addition to the main dining floors, nine separate private dining areas allow for all manner of private parties, from small and intimate dinners to larger celebrations, power gatherings and weddings receptions. On the night I visited, General Manager Albert Belegu monitored the dining rooms, eyes everywhere – a manager, I thought, who has seen it all and would leave nothing to chance. It was a pleasure, too, watching his superbly-trained staff in action, well-drilled and confident, working as a team.
From a menu which is large but not overwhelming, my server, Nick, talked me expertly through the appetizers – tartares, baked clams, jumbo shrimp, soups, salads and the like; before an in-depth explanation of the offerings from the raw bar, where along with the mollusks and gastropods Kaviari Oscietre prestige Russian caviar is also an option. He then moved on to the various cuts of beef – the restaurant has resisted the “Wagyu” way, wisely, in my view, choosing to serve only USDA prime beef, which certainly makes ordering simpler – and the pros and cons of the various stages of “doneness.” He then left me to consider my choices, along with a wine list so heavy it almost needed a winch to lift it. There are more than 600 wines, with many large bottle formats, making it ideal for a family party this time of year.
Just after ordering, a breadbasket arrived with soft rolls and focaccia, along with whipped butter. Therein followed a sizeable seafood platter, featuring large, local Blue Point oysters, creamy West Coast Kumamoto oysters, clams, jumbo shrimp, white crab meat, a crab claw and half a lobster, served with a classic mignonette (a sauce of vinegar, minced shallots and pepper for the oysters) as well as a marinara sauce and mayonnaise. I followed it with a lobster bisque, which was pale and creamy but with little trace of the brandy that is the bisque’s hallmark. It struck me as more of a chowder than a bisque.
The porterhouse is Benjamin’s best-selling main course, and you can order it for two, three or four. Ask nicely and the chef may be able to cut a porterhouse for one, as he did for me. This was still a humongous piece of meat, one that came sizzling and sliced, the sirloin and the filet on opposite sides of the bones, its ‘jus’ a natural sauce, served on an impressively hot plate. While it is said that comparisons are odious, this remarkable steak, and the perfect cooking of it, easily matched – in honesty, probably surpassed – an identical cut I ate at Luger’s a couple of years back.
If you’re not quite up for a porterhouse, other cuts are, of course, available, including filet mignon, sirloin and rib eye, as well as a delectable-looking rack of lamb, a Benjamin burger and several fish and shellfish options. Accompaniments were steak fries and earthy-tasting “creamless” creamed spinach, the cream substituted with a white roux. A bottle of Benjamin’s own steak sauce sits proudly on each table.
Dining alone, I drank a modest Pouilly Fumé, followed by an almost inky black Ribera del Duero – the region north of Madrid known for its plummy reds – both served by the glass in elegant stemware, which made drinking them an additional pleasure.
I didn’t want dessert, but as GM Belegu pointed out, if you haven’t tried Benjamin’s pecan pie, served with ice cream and whipped cream, you haven’t really been to Benjamin’s, so try it I did and PDF – pretty darn fabulous – it was, too.
Besides the original Benjamin Steakhouse in Manhattan and the Hartsdale restaurant, the Benjamin Restaurant Group also operates Benjamin Prime on East 40th Street and the Seafire Grill on East 48th Street in the Big Apple. Now I learn there are plans to open two new restaurants, one an upscale fish restaurant close to Hartsdale.
Well, if Benjamin’s fish is anything like its steak, I’m there – and fish lovers, watch this space.
For more, visit benjaminsteakhouse.com/Westchester.
