The Hook got invited to the space above Escafe. What did they find? They confirmed our rumor from January about it being a high end steak and whiskey joint. It’s going to be called “The Upstairs.”
What a stupid name... anyway, I’m pretty psyched about a real steakhouse in the area, even if they can’t think of something more creative.
My suggestions for names:
- Steak & Bitches (ok, not really)
- Silver Steak House
- Prime
- S&W (Steak & Whiskey)
- Jefferson’s Steak House
Highlights from The Hook article:
[Mark Brown’s] also putting in a brand new kitchen, complete with a top-of-the-line char-broiler he says is a real “kicker,” and some kind of fancy machine that cooks delicacies like fois gras. “You can hard boil an egg so the center is like jelly,” he says.
Brown says he imagines an upscale but casual bar scene, serving up high-end cognacs, scotches, and tequilas (and wine, of course), and a restaurant serving up prime USDA steaks and seafood straight from the briny deep.
Popularity: 27% [?]
Tagged as: birdie, Food, prime, Restaurants, Rumors, steak, usda
High-end tequilas? That will be fantastic/the end of me.
1. In the Heart
2. Tied to the Stake
3. Pampas Pull
4. Flesh Burn
i could go on
While slightly uninspired, I don’t think the name is all that bad, I just question the use of ‘the’. As in, THE Local and THE Upstairs. Wouldn’t both of these names be so much more chic on their own? And as an added bonus, we would all have the annoying, if not slightly satisfying pleasure of looking someone in the eyes and saying “We could take this party Upstairs, if you want”.
The traditional Charlottesville monosyllabic naming rubric dictates the name should be simply “Steak”.
I can’t wait to go see Chip at the bar… at The Upstairs …lounge? = )
You all enjoying a yo free day? hee hee…
Anyway, I had a tour last night of the Upstairs, which is well on its way to being completed. If you have been to al dente, I guarantee you will not recognize the place. It is a VERY cool interior. The removed the drop ceiling to reveal these old beam structures, pulled the plaster off the walls to reveal the bricks, and put in all these elaborate wooden booths and such. The place looks great. Loved the u shaped bar. The equipment is top flight too, with a climate controlled “wine room”, some sort of new fangled infared grill (room to 1800 degrees in eight minutes!), the largest convection oven in the world (had to be brought in by removing windows) and some sort of new european cooking thing that involves slow cooking things that are vaccuum sealed. Saw the whore door too, which is pretty cool.
Im no industry guy, but I was way impressed. Toss in the “top flight tequila” (something this town really lacks, they don’t even drink patron in mexico, sons) and Im sold.
the “european cooking thing” is sous-vide cooking, something that is featured all around the world’s best restaurants-el bulli, french laundry, daniel, alinea, the list goes on and on. it’s going to be very very cool to have a place in c-ville that does it.
does any industry worker know of any other place in the surrounding area that has sous-vde capabilities?
Yes, that is what he called it! How does this thing work, my explanation was brief… something about temperature differentials and lack of air?
@7 Sounds like all the the righteous molecular gastronomists are doin’ it.
/would kill for reservations/plane ticket to El Bulli (seriously, just ask)
what’s “a real steakhouse”, and why doesn’t Hamilton’s or Aberdeen fit under the definition?
the most basic explanation is this-and the best way i can describe it:
say you have a piece of meat that you want to cook to around 135 degrees-rare/mid-rare. if you were to do that on a burner or oven, you would have to heat a pan up to a very high temperature in order to get the inside up to temperature, which makes can make the meat tough and chewier. with sous-vide cooking, you can set a pot of water to 135 degrees, vacuum seal the meat in a bag, and place it in the water for an extended period of time, thereby slow-cooking the meat within its own juices/herbs/seasonings. it’s very advantageous for cuts of meats like pork belly and short ribs that require long cooking times-you can have fully tender short ribs for example with the color and texture of medium-rare beef
imagine trying to warm up your hands if they are cold-would you rather put them in a pair of warm gloves or hold a blowtorch to them in hopes of heating them up? same principle at work with this type of cooking.
Patron Platinum, pretty please?
Speaking of rumors, a liquor rep told me that the “Patron” facility in mexico is not open to the public and that they actually ship empty boxes back and forth across the border, whereas the actual tequila is made in Las Vegas. Sounded crazy to me, but who knows.
Jose Tradicional por favor. Best tequila quality per dollar spent. You could pay more, but why? Actually, I cant pay more, so…
Don Julio 1942, pretty please
Yeah thats good but like what, 50 bucks a bottle? There are way way more expensive bottles out there and they are awesome, better even, but I’s a broke ass belmont lad. 30.00 bucks a bottle… thats what Im talking about.
quality per dollar spent. b e l i e v e me, i have done the research.
Well I had to look it up, but given that Jose Tradicional is 100% blue agave reposado, I’d sure as hell try it. Patron Silver is a good way to go broke in a hurry.
if they’re gonna be high end, they’ve gotta really be high end - like this scotch drinkypoo - linkypoo
Not that I’m likely to ever quaff any of it. Then again….
like this scotch drinkypoo
$800 a bottle?! Unless that bottle has four wheels and an engine, I’m thinking Glenmorangie will do me just fine.
i think they should call it BJ’s, and have a big ol’ party every march 14.
no?
I hope there’s some grass-fed local beef. That’d be awesome.
I doubt any local grass fed beef can be Prime grade… does anyone know more?
P.S. Grass fed beef doesn’t taste as good as corn fed In my opinion.
THor, your names are horrible. On another subject, I’ve heard rumors that this will be C’ville’s first and only cigar bar as well, where cigars can be purchased and smoked with a tall glass of scotch while relaxing at the bar/puffy leather couch. I know that most people think that cigars stink like ass, but this gets my juices flowin! I can’t believe this town doesn’t have a cigar bar, but hopefully this rumor will come true for me at THE UPSTAIRS (I think it has a nice ring to it, and aren’t all restaurant names dumb anyway?). I’m slow to get too excited because somewhere on the grapevine I heard that they were having ventilation problems and that possibly this cigar dream had vanished (please god no). Anybody heard anything along this line?
I’ve heard rumors that this will be C’ville’s first and only cigar bar as well, where cigars can be purchased and smoked with a tall glass of scotch while relaxing at the bar/puffy leather couch
Won’t be the first. Downtown Grille was the first (of which I am aware). As the Grille is now nonsmoking, it is possible The Upstairs will be the only one in town, if they go that direction.
Sometimes a cigar bar is just a cigar bar, guys.
Hey MR C, think of better names then, I dare you
Helping Thor out with better names:
1. Cattle Prod
2. Choo Choo Supper Club (My favorite)
3. Rare & Bloody
4. Bloody Gravy Maybe
5. Would you like a steak with your cigar?
how about:
1. Cecil
2. Jinx
3. Scott
??
What I don’t get about sous-vide a.k.a. cryovacking, is the plastic. Even at 135F, I’d think it would leach undesirable hydrocarbs into your food. Grass-fed, I haven’t tried it yet, but that’s what they eat in Argentina, #1 steak restaurant, no?? Or have I been propagrandalized?
Do I have to go on?
5. Prime-ate.
6. Llano Estacado
7. Tent Pole Pull Em Up
8. Stake my Wager
9. Hangers Aweigh & Longdone Broil
10. Smeared Loin
etc.
Open before Graduation ceremonies (May 18th)?
the plastic used for the bags is heatsafe and won’t impart any sort of taste to the food, unlike low quality plastic wrap which you definitely don’t want to cook with.
we could call it the hot beef injection.
i win.
you’re now a “suit” - you’re disqualified
i was never really qualified in the first place.
Place sounds pretty sweet, although I’m sure it will be too pricey for me.
I saw the sous-vide thing on “The Next Iron Chef.” The chefs seemed to really like it and used it much more than the other new techniques they learned.
As for tequila, I’m a big fan of Herradura Silver and Don Julio. Patron is good too although expensive(and led to me blacking out during the bar crawl). But I gotta go with byo…dollar for dollar, might as well just go with Jose.
Not even close. Besides the already-mentioned Downtown Grille, they used to sell them at Michael’s Bistro way back in the day. Can’t remember exactly when they stopped, but I used to buy them there in the mid to late ’90’s. As far as I know, there aren’t any current cigar bars, however, so this would fill a void.
I don’t think any plastic can be heat safe, not even lexan = acrylic. But chefs care about fud, not just being cool, right?
oh wow i never thought about fud. nice one.
The cigar bar is indeed cancelled, although they are going to have the rarely used patio that was Al Dente’s on the mall and will encourage cigar smoking there. Puff, puff, sip.
Fancy cooking gear - I’ll wait until I try it to knock it, but it sounds like a crutch to me (if you pay attention and get your timing right, there are very few things you can’t cook with a good set of pots and pans, as gas stove and a well callibrated oven).
As for grass fed beef, some of the best beef in the world (Argentina, Italy) is almost exclusively grass fed, but you HAVE to know how to dry age it or it is distinctly less favorful than corn fed (which has more marbling, and fat is flavor). That being said, the inconclusive research as of late seems to point towards grass fed being healthier (and it’s more environmentally sound), and it’s easier to raise organic beef on grass than corn (as cows can’t easily digest corn), so I try to go with grass fed whenever I have the option.
Now as long as they have high end bourbon, this may be the new take the parents to dinner place, asusming they are footing the bill.
as cows can’t easily digest corn
This, yes. There was some NPR piece recently—maybe a Weekend America thing? I can’t remember—about corn basically killing cows very slowly, their slow death being prolonged by various antibiotics that off-set the negative effects of eating corn, which cows would not do left to their own devices. Anyone else hear this? I can’t find a link. Might’ve been the Omnivore’s Dilemma guy.
@39-it’s not a crutch really, it actually opens doors to whole new textures and control over the food you’re cooking. less waste, no discoloration of certain veggies like artichokes and fennel, tough cuts of meat made extremely tender, etc. this is on top of actual operating benefits like having everything already cooked and portioned out, reducing labor costs, chances of food going bad, things like that.
in the grand scheme of things, it’s simply another tool in the kitchen. if the food’s good, then that’s what matters.
yeah well eating cows kills them pretty quickly.
here is how they can easily study cow digestion: http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/reach-in-and-touch-the-inner-cow.html
~43
Yeah!! I’ve done that! Pre-Vet classes ranged from fun to downright scary. You should see how you check to see if a cow is pregnant.
[…] We confirmed our steakhouse rumor with the formal naming of the place above Escafe: The Upstairs. […]
Sorry for the crappy camera phone action, and the lights are way brighter than they will be, but here and here are some interior photos of the main room. This place is looking sweet.
And I got a rundown on some of the quality libations that will be served there. Apparently the owner’s family has been in Kentucky for some 200 years, and strings have been pulled. Suffice to say, you bourbon and scotch affecianados will be in heaven. We’re talking stuff never served in Virginia before. Of course I won’t be able to afford it, but hey, I know some of you will.
Also: look for a soft opening late next week, possibly Thursday.
[…] you’ve been following our coverage of The Upstairs, you should be […]
Soft openings make me har…..hold on, perhaps that statement is best left unfinished.
What is an “upscale yet casual” bar scene? If you think that place is expensive now, the price is only going to go up in the near future. The USDA’s new guidelines are putting small cattle ranches out of business and only big agri-businesses will be able to stomach the costs, and they produce meat of dubious quality and chemical content. Not to mention that the price of hay has gone up 500% in the last few years and corn is about to go through the roof because of a demand placed by ethanol. I guess that means whiskey will become more expensive too. So go ahead and drink your Jack and eat your steaks now because those will be luxuries only the wealthy will be able to afford in five years.