Spirit of Aloha | Articles | Adventures in Dining | June 2000

Adventures in Dining
By John Heckathorn

Steak to Clamor For

Ruth's Chris steaks come big, ranging in size from 12 ounces to 22 ounces (and a 42-ounce porterhouse for two).

I love walking through the dining room of Ruth's Chris Steak House. You can hear the steaks sizzling - they arrive at the table on plates too hot to touch, just minutes after being whisked from a 1,800-degree broiler. There's that wondrous aroma of prime beef dotted with hot butter. It's enough to bring out the carnivore in a saint. We didn't climb to the top of the food chain just to eat salad, it seems to say.

My whole family was with me - when they heard I was going to Ruth's Chris, they all clamored to come along. "I'd like a whole steak of my own," said my 11-year-old. "No sharing."

"OK," I said. I thought Ruth Fertel would be pleased. A couple of years ago, in this very restaurant, I had dinner with Fertel, the founder of Ruth's Chris. She'd gone into business for herself in New Orleans in 1965 - when, as a divorced mother, she realized she'd never be able to put her two sons through college on her salary as a lab tech. Knowing nothing about the restaurant business, she took an $18,000 mortgage on her house and bought Chris Steak House. The bank had to remind her to take out an additional loan to buy food and supplies for the restaurant.

She could use the name Chris Steak House as long as she stayed in the original location. When she later moved a few blocks away, she renamed the restaurant Ruth's Chris Steak House. It was a tongue-twister, but it did get people to stop calling her Chris.

Now 73 years old, Fertel remains in charge of her company, which has become perhaps the most successful fine-dining chain in the world, with 70 locations in the United States and abroad, and $250 million in yearly sales.

That's a lot of steaks - about 12,000 a day. All richly marbled, Midwest-raised, dry-aged U.S.D.A. Prime, cut into portions right in the restaurant. Big portions, 12 ounces to 22 ounces. There's even a 42-ounce porterhouse. It's designed for two to share, although our waitress recalled a patron who ate one all by himself. ("He said he was just out of prison," she confided.)

Which steak to order? My 11-year-old had the New York strip, a firm prime boneless cut that's Fertel's favorite. I am a major fan of the 22-ounce ribeye, with the bone still in, to give that subtle added close-to-the-bone sweetness to the meat. My wife concurs but our elder daughter, always ready to go her own way, ordered the lamb chops. "What are you looking at?" she asked. "The lamb's great here." She's right.

The entrees come on plain oval white platters - just meat. But there's more than meat to eat here. You have to order starches and vegetables as side dishes, and they come in portions big enough to share. If you want potatoes, you can choose from three cuts of french fries (cottage, julienne and shoestring), plus baked, au gratin and the best garlic mashed I've ever tasted. From the vegetable selection, even the children clamor for the fresh asparagus with hollandaise and the creamed fresh spinach.

The side dishes are a must, but I suggest skipping salads and appetizers. Not because they aren't good. I'm a big fan of the shrimp remoulade and the sliced tomato and Maui onion salad. But you don't want to fill up early.

Instead, you want to save yourself for dessert. You may want to go for one of the rich desserts, the chocolate praline pie or the bread pudding with whiskey sauce. But allow me to recommend a dessert you might overlook. Tucked in a quiet corner of the dessert menu are the fresh berries in sweet cream sauce: ripe strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, all bursting with flavor, in a golden rich custardy sauce that sweetens and smooths the natural fruit flavors. This is dessert that's light enough to send the spirit soaring after a considerable meal.

Oh, and wine. Fertel chooses the wine herself, at weekly Friday afternoon meetings. There's an excellent by-the-glass list, so unless you have a large party and a clear favorite to order by the bottle, you may wish to hop from wine to wine, from a glass of rich, plummy Benzinger '92 Sonoma County merlot, perhaps, to a glass of Penfolds "Bin 389" Australian cabernet-shiraz. There's nothing like a full-bodied, full-flavored red wine with a great steak.

We visited the Honolulu Ruth's Chris. If you find yourself on Maui, there's also a Ruth's Chris Steak House in Lahaina.

Ruth's Chris Steak House
Restaurant Row
500 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu
599-3860
800-544-0808
www.ruthschris.com
Dinner nightly 5-10 p.m.
Validated parking, major credit cards, reservations suggested.

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