Raising The Steaks
May 30, 2018
Local Chop And Grill House Nabs Best Steak Award With
Local Focus, Simplicity
By JUSTIN McILWEE
Daily News-Record 5/30/18
HARRISONBURG — Sometimes, nothing satisfies hunger like a thick, juicy steak.
From a skirt steak all the way up to a filet mignon, getting that right cut, paired with the best cooking method and spices, can make for a meal like no other.
And when it comes to finding a really good steak, Valley residents haven’t been shy about consistently voting Local Chop and Grill House as having the best steak in the area.
The restaurant was voted Best Steak in the 2018 Best of the Valley DN-R reader survey. Local Chop has won the award each year since opening, with nine consecutive wins under its belt.
“It’s always gratifying, especially for the staff, too, because they work very hard,” said Jeff Hill, the owner of Local Chop and Grill House. “We don’t go out to win awards. We go out to do the best we can do every day. If the awards come, that’s great. It’s always nice to know that people out there care.”
Hill said the chefs at Local Chop pride themselves on using the freshest ingredients to make the best dishes possible.
“Usually, a chop house has good proteins and local produce,” he said. “The big thing is that we get a good product and try not to screw it up. We butcher all our proteins: salmon, each cut of meat, duck and chicken — we break it all down.”
He said the advantage to breaking down the meat, rather than having it come to the restaurant already butchered, is that it is less processed and gives the chefs more freedom in cuts.
“It’s fresh, not frozen,” Hill said. “You can select the size of your cut. Some animals we’ll use head to toe as much as we can for stocks, reductions and demi glace. You can utilize the good parts that don’t make the cut [for steaks]. We grind all our own hamburger; our hamburgers are actually ground filet mignon and ribeye.”
Local Chop also chooses higher quality meats, including steaks that have been through the dry aging process.
“We get local beef that’s dry aged and we’ll cut pretty big pieces,” Hill said. “[To dry age], you have to have the right temperature and the right humidity. It intensifies the flavor. You lose product because the steak actually shrinks because it loses fluid, but it just intensifies it.”
After a steak is chosen and cut, the cooking process is summarized with just one word: simplicity.
“We cook our steaks with just kosher salt and pepper,” Hill said.
Then, the customer can finish a steak by adding different rubs, toppings and sauces.
“[Customers] can pick how they want to finish it,” Hill said. “We rely on the server to politely steer them in the right direction because you wouldn’t want a rub you use on your steak, on salmon. It takes a little bit of guidance.”
General manager Logan Evans said the restaurant sells multiple cuts of steaks, including filet mignon, ribeye and sirloin and eventually, New York Strip.
Hill said that a final aspect of Local Chop and Grill House’s success is the use of local ingredients.
“Our relationship with local farmers is a big part of our success,” he said. “In the hallway, there’s a big chalkboard with some of the current farmers we use because people don’t always understand how many we use.”
Not Just Steaks
While Hill is thrilled that the restaurant is consistently recognized for steaks, he wants the public to know that Local Chop and Grill offers so much more.
“We do much more than steak; we don’t want to be stereotyped,” he said. “We have a really great vegetarian menu: the fish, fowl [and] we have a lot of great vegetables.”
Local Chop and Grill House in downtown Harrisonburg has won Best Steak for the 2018 Best of the Valley survey. “It’s always gratifying, especially for the staff, too, because they work very hard,” said Jeff Hill, the owner of Local Chop.
Local Focus, Simplicity
By JUSTIN McILWEE
Daily News-Record 5/30/18
HARRISONBURG — Sometimes, nothing satisfies hunger like a thick, juicy steak.
From a skirt steak all the way up to a filet mignon, getting that right cut, paired with the best cooking method and spices, can make for a meal like no other.
And when it comes to finding a really good steak, Valley residents haven’t been shy about consistently voting Local Chop and Grill House as having the best steak in the area.
The restaurant was voted Best Steak in the 2018 Best of the Valley DN-R reader survey. Local Chop has won the award each year since opening, with nine consecutive wins under its belt.
“It’s always gratifying, especially for the staff, too, because they work very hard,” said Jeff Hill, the owner of Local Chop and Grill House. “We don’t go out to win awards. We go out to do the best we can do every day. If the awards come, that’s great. It’s always nice to know that people out there care.”
Hill said the chefs at Local Chop pride themselves on using the freshest ingredients to make the best dishes possible.
“Usually, a chop house has good proteins and local produce,” he said. “The big thing is that we get a good product and try not to screw it up. We butcher all our proteins: salmon, each cut of meat, duck and chicken — we break it all down.”
He said the advantage to breaking down the meat, rather than having it come to the restaurant already butchered, is that it is less processed and gives the chefs more freedom in cuts.
“It’s fresh, not frozen,” Hill said. “You can select the size of your cut. Some animals we’ll use head to toe as much as we can for stocks, reductions and demi glace. You can utilize the good parts that don’t make the cut [for steaks]. We grind all our own hamburger; our hamburgers are actually ground filet mignon and ribeye.”
Local Chop also chooses higher quality meats, including steaks that have been through the dry aging process.
“We get local beef that’s dry aged and we’ll cut pretty big pieces,” Hill said. “[To dry age], you have to have the right temperature and the right humidity. It intensifies the flavor. You lose product because the steak actually shrinks because it loses fluid, but it just intensifies it.”
After a steak is chosen and cut, the cooking process is summarized with just one word: simplicity.
“We cook our steaks with just kosher salt and pepper,” Hill said.
Then, the customer can finish a steak by adding different rubs, toppings and sauces.
“[Customers] can pick how they want to finish it,” Hill said. “We rely on the server to politely steer them in the right direction because you wouldn’t want a rub you use on your steak, on salmon. It takes a little bit of guidance.”
General manager Logan Evans said the restaurant sells multiple cuts of steaks, including filet mignon, ribeye and sirloin and eventually, New York Strip.
Hill said that a final aspect of Local Chop and Grill House’s success is the use of local ingredients.
“Our relationship with local farmers is a big part of our success,” he said. “In the hallway, there’s a big chalkboard with some of the current farmers we use because people don’t always understand how many we use.”
Not Just Steaks
While Hill is thrilled that the restaurant is consistently recognized for steaks, he wants the public to know that Local Chop and Grill offers so much more.
“We do much more than steak; we don’t want to be stereotyped,” he said. “We have a really great vegetarian menu: the fish, fowl [and] we have a lot of great vegetables.”
Local Chop and Grill House in downtown Harrisonburg has won Best Steak for the 2018 Best of the Valley survey. “It’s always gratifying, especially for the staff, too, because they work very hard,” said Jeff Hill, the owner of Local Chop.
