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Share Thoughts On Beef

Chef Rory Schepisi of the Boothill Salon & Grill and Executive Chef Ric Rosser of Saltgrass Steak House share their viewpoints on beef.

by Kindra Gordon for Angus Journal

 

TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 6, 2013) — Having grown up in New Jersey, Rory Schepisi admits she didn’t know where beef came from or how much work goes into putting beef on the table. Trained as a chef at 17, Schepisi opened her first restaurant at the age of 20. Based on comments she heard about slaughterhouses, she also became a vegetarian for several years.

 

A trip to Vega, Texas, to do a show for Country Music Television (CMT) changed Schepisi’s path forever. With the trip to Texas, Schepisi told Cattlemen’s College^® attendees at the 2013 Cattle Industry Convention, she became “enamored” with cowboy culture. Her website (www.roryschepisi.com/bio) describes how she planted roots after falling in love with the town and a local cowboy. Since then she has transformed from city girl to cowgirl.

 

After learning about the process beef goes through from cow-calf to feedyard to being on the plate in her restaurant, advocating for beef has become a passion, Schepisi said. “For me it became a passion to tell people in urban areas how much work goes behind beef production. They don’t know.”

 

Today, Schepisi owns and operates Boothill Salon and Grill along Route 66 in Vega (www.boothillvega.com).

 

“The industry needs to get the knowledge and benefits of red meat to metro areas,” said Schepisi, who now loves beef and wants to help build beef demand. “They see chicken, pork and beef. How do we get them to choose beef? I believe we do it through restaurants promoting beef.”

 

Schepisi features a variety of beef entrées on her menu and encourages patrons to try her steak. She offers the guarantee that if they don’t like it, she’ll buy it for them.

 

She encouraged attendees to invite consumers to their ranch to learn more about beef. She added, “We’ve got to break stereotypes and encourage people to try beef.”

 

Ric Rosser of Katy, Texas, also addressed Cattlemen’s College attendees. Rosser serves as the executive chef for Saltgrass Steak House (www.saltgrass.com), a chain of 48 restaurants in Louisiana, Nevada, Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado. He also manages a chain of 37 other restaurants in California. Last year the two chains sold enough pounds of beef to equal 150,000 head of cattle.

 

“We served over 1 million 16-ounce ribeyes,” Rosser said, adding that 55% of what they put on their grill is red meat. Quality beef is what his restaurants strive for to keep customers coming back.

 

Rosser did note that his one concern about beef for the future is the increasing amount of fat he is seeing. In the past seven years beef has gotten fatter, he said. “My ribeye complaints have increased from two to three per night to about six per night in a restaurant because of that fat.”

 

He offered producers a challenge: “It takes 22 months from a calf being on the ground to it being in my restaurants. I’ll focus on the 4 minutes it takes in my restaurant — because that’s how long it would take me to screw up your steak — if you’ll worry about your 22 months to raise quality beef.”