AT THE CHEF'S TABLE
A Steak Different MARKET STEER, MODERN TAKE ON THE CLASSIC STEAKHOUSE Story and Photos by Gabriella Marks
Cowboy Ribeye with the sauce flight.
Partner that chef with Kristina Goode, co-owner and general manager, who is truly dedicated to the fine art of front-of-house hospitality, and we have a modern take on the classic steakhouse.
And they know what they like. The restaurant features one hundred percent prime grade meat, the highest quality of beef. Meat is graded based on a combination of marbling, which is flecks of fat speckled within meat that adds flavor, and maturity. Younger beef produces the most tender meat. Less than two percent of beef raised within the US earns top prime designation. Through intensive research, Market Steer is able to source their beef from only two ranches: 44 Farms of Texas, and Meyer Company Ranch in Montana. While they would eventually like to feature New Mexico growers as well, the challenge lies in production volume, finding a ranch that can keep up with their high demand.
It’s not their first rodeo. After meeting in the Dallas food scene, Crook and Goode teamed up for the critically acclaimed Steakhouse 316 in Aspen. Market Steer in Santa Fe is different. They’ve taken their combined decades of experience and opened their own restaurant, one of the very few female-owned and -run steakhouses ever, anywhere.
Crook’s preferred aging process is another point of distinction. In the aging process, the natural enzymes break down hard connective tissue, resulting in a more tender cut. She prefers wet aging, wherein cuts are aged in their own juices, yielding a subtler flavor with the same tenderness. In dry aging the evaporation of liquid creates an
“You like what you like.” Words of wisdom from Market Steer chef and co-owner Kathleen Crook. A big cabernet with your sea bass? Rosé all winter? Why not be true to your own appetites? It’s a statement very in character from a no-nonsense chef whose pedigree—raised by cattle ranchers in Artesia, World Champion Breakaway Roper on the national circuit, classically trained at Le Cordon Bleu—uniquely qualifies her to run a steakhouse.
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edible New Mexico | SPRING 2019
