19 OctOber 24 - 30, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents New Steak in Town Think about the best steak in Dallas. Then think again. III Forks is serving up American wagyu that rivals your favorite cut. BY AAREN PRODY T oday’s food scene is stocked with fusion dishes that demand your attention, like a grilled bur- rito or smoked baby back pork rib ramen. See? When we hear about dishes like these, our curiosity gets the best of us and, before you know it, we’re lined up with everyone else. But while others create an entrance and demand a presence, some sneak onto a menu undetected. Or maybe quietly is a bet- ter way to put it. There’s not a steak that Dal- las hasn’t put a char on. As it turns out, there is a new(er) steak in town: a cross between Japanese wagyu and American Black Angus that has the fa- mous buttery marbling but with the robust beef flavors that the states are known for. The result? American wagyu. And it’s more common than you’d think. You’ve probably seen wagyu on many menus around Dallas, but not all of it is as pure as we assume it is. It’s likely this American wagyu, which is how you can or- der “wagyu” fajitas for only $27. Most places just tend to leave off exactly what kind of wagyu it is because pure Japanese beef is a delicacy and is often priced gener- ously by the ounce (easily a few hundred for a standard 6-to-8-ounce steak). You could say it’s nearly a once-in-a-life- time culinary experience for the average person, which is why cross-breeding has be- come so prominent. It’s not to bamboozle you into thinking you’re getting wagyu for a bargain price or being sold something fake. The aim is to bring a higher-quality steak to the American market. The pioneers of the crossbreed, Snake River Farms, based in the Pacific Northwest, have been mastering the prized combination since 1989. They imported purebred Wagyu cow and bull herds from renowned Japanese blood- lines to create the foundation of their beef program. Everything started in American Falls, Idaho, and now their farms have spread across the West as far as Jackson, Wyoming. All their beef falls into four categories de- veloped by synthesizing the USDA and in- ternational Beef Marbling Scale (BMS), which ranges from 1 to 12: USDA Choice – BMS of 2 to 3, great flavor and tenderness, above-average steaks USDA Prime – BMS of 4 to 5, includes only about 5% of all domestic beef Snake River Farms Black Label™ – Ameri- can wagyu beef with a BMS of 6 to 8, supe- rior to USDA Prime Snake River Farms Gold Label™ – American wagyu beef with a BMS of 9+ that delivers a rich flavor and buttery texture But how does it compare to actual wa- gyu? We tried it to find out. Even at American wagyu’s pinnacle, the SRF Gold Label, purebred wagyu is still leaps and bounds ahead in all aspects: qual- ity, marbling and complex flavors. Nonethe- less, the American version might still be one of the most memorable steaks of your life. If you’re wondering if you can get premium A5 Kobe beef on an Outback Steakhouse bud- get, unfortunately, no. However, the American crossbreed isn’t trying to be something it’s not; it wants to give you the best of both worlds. And at a much more affordable price point. III Forks Steakhouse recently announced its exclusive partnership with Snake River Farms to serve two iconic cuts to Dallas’s steak-obsessed market: the Gold Label 16-ounce NY Strip and the Gold Label 24-ounce bone-in ribeye. They’re priced at $136 and $179, respectively. If you crunch some numbers, you’re look- ing at around $7-8 per ounce depending on which steak you order. By wagyu standards, that’s a bargain for the quality of steak you’re getting. And that’s what III Forks wanted: to introduce a higher-quality steak to the mar- ket without the massive price jump. ▼ LISTS DALLAS’ TOP BAGEL SPOTS FROM STARSHIP TO CINDI’S, DALLAS HAS A SMALL BUT MIGHTY BAGEL SCENE WITH PLENTY OF MICROBLISTERING AND BOUNCEBACK TEXTURE. BY LAUREN DREWES DANIELS J. Kenji López-Alt is a food columnist for The New York Times and has authored a book about better home cooking through science. He studied architecture at MIT and, perhaps a smidge more important than that, grew up in New York City, where he rit- ually ate bagels from his neighborhood shop. In his Serious Eats article, “The Good Bagel Manifesto,” López-Alt offers some trademarks of a proper bagel. The “crust should give way to a crumb that’s dense and chewy, but tender and easy to bite through.” The skin of a bagel should be thin and shiny with a “crackly crust spotted with the kind of microblisters that you can only get from proper boiling followed by a high-temperature bake.” Mostly, López-Alt says bagels should never be toasted: “All through 1989 I remember waking up every morning thinking today might be the day they come out with the hoverboard. Not once did I think they might come out with that wheely-chain thingy that makes bagels browner!” Hoverboards never really took off. Browner bagels, for better are worse, are a thing. After years of blossoming bagel scene in Dallas, including one spot that is racking up national awards, we consulted a group of ba- gel connoisseurs and chefs on their favorite local bagel. We combined those results for a ranking of the best bagels in Dallas, chock full of microblisters and tender easiness: 1. Starship Bagels 1108 W. Main St., Lewisville; 6859 Arapaho Road; 1520 Elm St. Several of our local “bagel experts” selected Starship Bagels as their top dog, which aligns with national rankings. Starship’s mothership opened in Lewisville in 2021 and now has two satellite shops (North Dal- las and Downtown). These bagels made Bon Appetit’s list of Best Bagels in the U.S. (Out- side of New York) in 2023. Starship’s schmear has won multiple awards, includ- ing Schmear of the Year at the 2024 New York BagelFest. They also happen to be one of our personal favorites. The key to these bagels is a 24-hour fermentation process, and, of course, these orbs are boiled before being baked. 2. Cindi’s NY Deli and Restaurant Multiple Locations Sure, Cindi’s is a Dallas institution, but we’re surprised how many of our super exclusive bagel panel chose this spot immediately and, in one case, singularly, for the best bagels in Dallas. In terms of the bagel game, this is a sleeper hit. A true October surprise. We’ve been celebrating the wave of new bagels in Big D, but all along Cindi’s has been making stellar orbs. Cindi’s is certainly one of our fa- vorite New York delis with tall Reuben sand- wiches and a menu that is a short novel. Here, you can get Nova salmon, which is flown in weekly, with LTO, cucumbers, Greek olives and cream cheese and your choice of 15 bagels for about $18. Third place was a three-way tie. 3. Deli-News 17062 Preston Road Deli-News is another Dallas deli institution, open for almost 30 years and prized for au- thentic Russian-Jewish plates and sand- wiches. Everything here is from scratch and baked daily, including the bagels, which are served with all the trimmings or just a schmear, if that’s how you roll (just $2.99). 3. Lubbies Bagels 1160 Peavy Road Sisters Jen and Adrea Lubkin — from Brook- lyn, New York, and Montclair, New Jersey, respectively — opened this East Dallas shop last year. Lubbies is designed for grab-and- go orders, although a small dine-in area is reminiscent of Bubbie’s kitchen. The skin of the bagels here are speckled with that cru- cial microblistering, and as Hank Vaughn wrote after his first visit, “the all- Aaren Prody Ill Forks’ waygu beef has complex flavor. | CITY OF ATE | ▼ Dish Hank Vaughn Starship bagels with shops in Lewisville, North Dallas and Downtown. >> p20
