Well Fed On the Town

I had the pleasure of attending a special steak tasting at Outback Steakhouse, celebrating their recent crowning by Zagat as 2009 Best Steak of National Service Restaurant Chains.  Once I began tasting the steaks, it was easy to see why.  Outback takes particular care in choosing the best ingredients and serving them in a way to emphasize their flavor.  Although the restaurant chain values its relaxed atmosphere, making it comfortable for families or groups of teenagers alike, it is very clear that they take their food seriously.

Tim Gannon, Co-Founder and Senior Vice President, and Dave Ellis, Vice President of Research and Development, guided a small group of bloggers through their steak menu.  The amount of information they knew about each item, and the quality of ingredients used, had me quickly forgetting that they were talking about menu items for a national restaurant chain with over 950 restaurants around the world.

Unlike some restaurant chains that pre-package everything in an attempt to standardize menu items, Outback maintains the utmost quality by using fresh ingredients - never freezing meat - and preparing sauces and seasonings fresh at each restaurant.  To insure that each item maintains the Outback flavor profile, a tasting of each sauce and ingredient is held prior to opening every day.

Below are a few of my favorite items from the tasting:

Roasted Filet with Port Wine Sauce

Easily my favorite steak of the night.  The filet was tender and well-paired with the slightly sweet port wine sauce.  The sauce is a demi-glace utilizing high-quality port wine and shiitake mushrooms.  This item made it clear that classic french techniques, such as demi-glace, can be successfully utilized in preparing the sauces and other menu items in a large chain setting.

Savory Pepper Mill New York Strip
This steak featured generous strips of peppered New York Strip Steak topped with a brandy cream sauce.  The brandy sauce did an excellent job of balancing the peppery steak.  The potato wedges were a particular highlight to this dish.  They were perfectly fried and extremely crispy, which is not often executed properly when it comes to wedge potato pieces.

Filet Tenderloin and Stuffed Shrimp
Although the tenderloin was excellent, the crab-stuffed shrimp stole the spotlight.  The shrimp is stuffed with crab, lightly breaded and covered with a lemon butter sauce.  Although sides are often overlooked, the garlic mashed potatoes were perfectly smooth and seasoned perfectly.  It had a slight garlic flavor without being too overbearing.

Steak with Shrimp
This dish features a steak accompanied by shrimp in a remoulade sauce.  The shrimp was served with the sauce and cooked cherry tomatoes — absolutely outstanding.

Bacon-wrapped Filet and Lobster Tail
We previewed this not-yet-available menu item that should soon be available at Outback restaurants everywhere. Wow - this was really terrific. The filet is wrapped in delicious salty bacon and is accompanied by a small lobster tail. The lobster was shockingly sweet and tender, with a level of quality that is not something you’d expect from a chain restaurant. This is definitely a stand-out item and I’m sure this will be popular once it’s available.

Chocolate Thunder from Down Under
To finish off the night, they gave us a tasting of one of their signature desserts, Chocolate Thunder from Down Under.  The dessert features a flourless brownie (with nuts) topped with Blue Bell vanilla ice cream (from Texas) and freshly made chocolate sauce and whipped cream.  For the chocolate, they use a Nestle-based brand from Switzerland.