Farewell to Meat - Chip Flanagan

Chip Flanagan
Executive Chef, Ralph's on the Park
The Meat: Wagyu Rib Eye with cauliflower puree and grilled scallions

Chef Chip Flanagan has cooked in kitchens in New Orleans for years (plus a stint on St. Croix) and brings a unique "the cuisines of the world are my inspiration" point of view to Ralph's on the Park. His dishes present recognizable New Orleans foods in new light. For example, the Cajun Scotch Egg wraps boudin around a poached egg. Or the Oyster's Rockefeller Reprise in which a deliciously rich spinach custard is topped with plump, fried oysters that are then crowned by bacon studded bread crumbs.

When Flanagan first took over the reins at Ralph's, these ideas seemed out of place with management and ownership. Flanagan recalls sitting in a meeting and finally saying, "Listen, whenever there is change, we are going to lose people, but my food can bring more people in than we lose." That candidness and the ability to take risks has helped put Ralph's back on our map.

And the perfect example of this is the Japanese Wagyu on the menu. Wagyu beef comes from cows in Japan who spend their whole life living much like the Pope: they are fed alcohol, massaged, and kept happy. This results in a meat with more marble than Versace's Miami villa.

The Wagyu is $12 an ounce, but a 3 ounce order is sufficient for the most tender, soft, and pleasing meat in town. To cook, Chef Flanagan cuts a rectangular portion from the rib eye, seasons it with salt and pepper, and cooks it with no oil in a blue steel pan over high heat. The meat only cooks for around forty-five seconds per side resulting in rare to medium rare doneness. But trust us, you don't want to go further than this.

After cooking the meat rests before being sliced for final plating.

An up close view.

See those beautiful streaks of soft, white fat running through the meat? It tastes like Hartley's field goal felt.

To round out his meattidunal Mardi Gras supper, Flanagan would go with the lamb spare ribs with Worcestershire and satsuma glaze, and the City Park Salad. For dessert, he suggests either the Creme Brulee or trio of chocolates. And what to drink with all of this?

"Brandy. Just cuz."

For Lent, Flanagan isn't giving up anything so much as he will vow to exercise more. But don't expect him to stop tasting the Wagyu. "Giving up eating this meat would be too great a burden."