Michael Landrum, the man who put the meat into the Ray’s mini-empire, has never been shy about telling the world about the superiority of his beef.  The New York Times‘ investigation of the commercial ground-beef industry gave him another chance to do more of the same.

Landrum responded to three of the four questions posed by Y&H in the wake of the investigation. I asked Landrum — and BGR’s Mark Bucher before him — to try to alleviate public fears by explaining the differences between commercial ground beef and their ground beef.

Y&H: What was your overall impression of the Times‘ piece and what do you think it will mean for ground beef and burger sales in the future?

Landrum: Didn’t see the piece, so I can’t comment on question 1.  Read More “Michael Landrum Makes His Case for Gourmet Burgers in the Face of the Times’ Investigation” »

Y&H does some side work for Askmen.com, but this week he took a break and asked Michael Landrum to step in and recommend a few manly places for the site’s D.C. readership. Obviously, that was too humdrum a task for Landrum. He went ahead and wrote an essay about “how to be a man in a restaurant.” It involves tipping generously. Very generously.

Sample lines from Landrum:  “Tip to the point beyond fear and, like a roller coaster ride, be prepared for an experience more exhilarating and rewarding than you could have previously imagined or hoped for. Do not make the mistake of tipping what you think the person deserves; instead, tip based on the man you want to be — and you will be taken for that man. Remember, though, that the equation works both ways. There are many things that reveal the difference between a man and a punk — and being cheap will always make you a punk.”

You can imagine the shitstorm this has started over at Askmen.com. Let me quote just a few of the comments Landrum’s essay has generated:

Read More “Michael Landrum Pisses Off Askmen Readers with His Strategies on Tipping” »

It’s official. People have gone batshit for Select 55. Or at least batshit for our post on the beer. It tops the list once again this week.

I think I’ll go drown my sorrows in a real beer.

1. Budweiser Launches Select 55, Light Beer Arms Race Gets Absurd
2. Looking for a Little Practice, Bibiana Jumps the Gun and Opens for Service Today
3. Oh, the Noise, Noise, Noise, Noise in Restaurants
4. ‘Two Left Feet’ for One Big Steak
5. Did Vidalia Use “Inferior” Ingredients During Restaurant Week?

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

The evidence of Mark Slater’s move to Ray’s the Steaks can be found all around the host stand at this Arlington steakhouse. Cases of wine are stacked everywhere — on the floor, on chairs, on top of wine cabinets — as if the place should actually be called Ray’s the Glass.  (Capital Spice gets all the credit for that one.)

I’m not very orthodox when it comes to wine pairings, as you might tell from this post. If you can find a good Gewürz that pairs well with steak — good luck with that — then I say knock yourself out. You won’t hear a peep from me. So I was reviewing the damn fine wine menu at Ray’s, trying to find something new (or new to me) that would pair with my ribeye with horseradish cream sauce.

Given those flavors, I figured I’d need a wine big enough to swallow Michael Moore. And the last thing I wanted was another California cab that tastes like someone poured Mexican vanilla into a bucket of fermented blackberry juice. I clearly needed Slater’s help.

Read More “‘Two Left Feet’ for One Big Steak” »

Zaytinya: You practically get a metal concert with your mezze.

Y&H still remembers, more than  a year ago, when the dining critic at Brand X wrote a Sunday magazine cover story about noise in restaurants and even instituted a special feature measuring decibel levels at every restaurant he reviews. What a waste of time, I thought, writing about something that’s so subjective. One diner’s noise, after all, is another diner’s buzz and excitement. (OK, critiquing food is totally subjective, too, but go with me here.) Only old folks and babies, I figured, care about noise in restaurants.

Well, I’m officially a geezer now.

Read More “Oh, the Noise, Noise, Noise, Noise in Restaurants” »

This blog has gone to Hell, and readers are taking Select 55 with it. For Christ’s sake, people, can we get over this Budweiser post, which tops the list for the third straight week?

The most-read items for the week:

1. Budweiser Launches Select 55, Light Beer Arms Race Gets Absurd
2. Not So Fast: There’s No Deal for a Ray’s Hell Burger in Adams Morgan
3. No Hell Burger for Adams Morgan, but a Ray’s the Steaks for NE
4. Did Vidalia Use “Inferior” Ingredients During Restaurant Week?
5. Drool List: Pizzeria Paradiso at Dupont Circle
   

Adams Morgan may have to wait — as in forever — for a Ray’s Hell Burger, but Northeast D.C. will have to drum their fingers only ’til this fall for the debut of Ray’s the Steaks at East River, says owner Michael Landrum.

When WaPo first announced RTS@ER, it was known as Ray’s the Heat, but Landrum decided to change the name as a sort of official notice to the neighborhood, which restaurateurs have historically neglected like an ugly stepchild. The name-change, Landrum says, is “a signal to that community that they’re getting my A property.”

Read More “No Hell Burger for Adams Morgan, but a Ray’s the Steaks for NE” »

One by one, we’re running through the 50 restaurants that made the cut on this year’s Young & Hungry Dining Guide. If you have visited the day’s featured restaurant, let us know what you think. If you’re planning to visit for the first time, tell us about your meal when you return.

With each passing month, you can just feel maverick meat man Michael Landrum inching closer to mainstream respectability. First, it was his decision to move Ray’s the Steaks to a spacious spot in the Navy League building, more than doubling his previous capacity. Then it was his bold move to lure sommelier Mark Slater away from Citronelle. Finally, it was Landrum’s quasi-brown-nose behavior when Barack Obama and Joe Biden visited Ray’s Hell Burgers earlier this year. Of course, as Landrum would be the first to point out, none of these things actually define him or speak to his operating philosophies. Truth is, Landrum continues to subvert the expense-account mindset of most steakhouses at his Arlington flagship, where you can slice into a well-aged, charred-to-your-liking steak at a fraction of the price of those downtown meat emporiums.

Ray’s the Steaks, 2300 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, (703) 841-7297

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Michael Landrum, the man for all your meat-related needs, does his best Kirk Lazarus routine when ambushed by TMZ. Landrum mentions that his burgers are named after soul artists and some of his favorite rappers, then deadpans: “So before Obama gets a burger named after him, I think I’m going to have to hear his flow.”

It was an eventful week in local food. Kim O’Donnel went from losing her weekly cooking chat to launching another. Mark Slater got a new job, and Georgetown Wine and Spirits still can’t drop any bomber bottles. Without further ado, the Top 5 posts…

1. How Does Tom Sietsema Avoid Wolfing Down Useless Calories?
2. Slater to ‘Subvert’ the Way Wine Programs Work While at Ray’s
3. How Hard Is It to Get an Italian Beef Sandwich in D.C.?
4. Things Just Not Flowing at H Street Country Club
5. Birch & Barley Slated for Summer Opening. Maybe.