MORE>>>>>>
The media-propelled notion that Americans have turned from red meat to fake meat is a case of Park Slope talking to Park Slope — elites hilariously out of touch with the masses.
The recent Times article, for example, cited a 2019 Gallup poll where one-quarter of respondents claimed they ate less meat. But in restaurants, people’s true tastes are on display for all to see.
Big Apple steakhouses are thriving and adding locations. Wolfgang’s has grown from a single Manhattan location to five since 2004. In the past five years, Hawksmoor opened up shop here from London, Mastro’s from Beverly Hills, and Salt Bae’s Nusr-Et from Istanbul.
The most in-demand dishes include Carbone’s $85 veal parmigiana (which drew crowds for takeout during the 2020 indoor-dining ban) and Carne Mare’s $115 gorgonzola-cured wagyu striploin. A new place called Skirt Steak NYC in Chelsea sells nothing else and is packed all the time.
British steakhouse Hawksmoor opened a New York outpost (above) during the height of the pandemic. Even with its high-priced menu, the restaurant has proven a hit with both critics and diners.
New York steakhouses are thriving, including Nusr-Etm run by Nusret Gokce (aka Salt Bae), the social media-famous founder from Turkey.
Of course, the ban-the-beef movement is part of the ban-anything-that-tastes-good mindset that holds sway in woker-than-thou circles. Two years ago, the Conde Nast-owned Epicurious site harrumphed that, in the interest of “sustainability,” it would no longer carry new beef recipes. An editor’s note hinted that it expected others to follow. To date, no other comparable media organ has been stupid enough to do so.
The sale of foie gras will be banned altogether in the Big Apple as of Oct. 31. The goal is to spare ducks and geese the alleged misery of force-feeding. But the true purpose is to stick it to supposedly rich customers. By the same “cruelty” standard, sale of chickens and pork, which people of all income levels consume, should also be forbidden.
Meanwhile, Mark Pastore, president of Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors (which sells to places from Porter House to Shake Shack), told me his company’s red-meat sales “increase year after year by anywhere from 10-15 percent. I don’t see the demand dwindling anytime soon either anywhere.”
You cannot grow row crops everywhere. Cattle are essential for economies of areas where raising plant based food is uncompetitive.
“we are eating more beef today than we did five years ago, despite plant-based “Impossible” meat and Beyond Burgers taking over American menus...”
Anybody that’s taken the time to do the research knows fake meat isn’t as healthy as real beef.....and in most cases way more unhealthy.
You won’t hear the carrot eaters admitting that though.
I believe in a varied diet. Eat beef a couple of times a week, chicken a couple of times, salmon one night a week and veggie meals the other days like homemade bean and corn soup (complete protein) in veggie broth with chopped celery, carrots, onions. All yummy stuff and good for me. Also eggs every other morning, cereal the others. Drink cows milk. Tried coconut milk on cereal and it’s not bad. Silk coconut milk is the best, slightly sweetened.
Tried a package of Beyond Meat and literally spit out the first bite it was so awful, threw the rest away. I don’t eat pork, but get “Porkless Bites” from a company called Gardien. Actually quite delish.