PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ready for the $100 cheesesteak? Purists might howl, but the well-heeled and adventurous can now dive into a sandwich that includes not just chopped steak and melted cheese but goose liver and truffles — at about 25 times the price of a traditional Philly cheesesteak.
Barclay Prime owner Stephen Starr admits the costly sandwich is a marketing ploy for his upscale steakhouse, which opened Tuesday on Rittenhouse Square in downtown Philadelphia. But he predicted there will be customers who actually order it. "I believe you will have the rich guy in there who will say, 'Cheesesteaks for the table. And buy one for the guy over there,'" said Starr, an acclaimed restaurateur who has opened 13 eateries in the city since 1995.
As the latest entree in what Philadelphia Inquirer restaurant critic Craig LaBan has called a "dubious local genre" — the haute cheesesteak — this version bears little resemblance to what you get from the corner sandwich shop. Served with a small bottle of champagne, Barclay Prime's cheesesteak is made of sliced Kobe beef, melted Taleggio cheese, shaved truffles, sauteed foie gras, caramelized onions and heirloom shaved tomatoes on a homemade brioche roll brushed with truffle butter and squirted with homemade mustard.
The original sandwich, available at hundreds of sandwich shops, pizzerias and burger joints around the city, is made with thin-sliced ribeye on an Italian roll with American or provolone cheese — or Cheez Whiz, if you're at Pat's King of Steaks, the South Philadelphia landmark that claims to have invented the steak sandwich in 1930. Champagne's not included, or even recommended.
Starr, who calls Barclay Prime a "luxury boutique steakhouse," said the $100 cheesesteak — along with the restaurant's exotic interior by designer India Mahdavi — would help differentiate his newest venture from the chain steakhouses he's competing against.
Pat's co-owner Frank Olivieri welcomed Starr to the cheesesteak club. "I am sure it will be good. Stephen is a mastermind when it comes to food," he said. But not everyone is so accepting. After all, the cheesesteak is Philadelphia's most famous culinary export.
"You shouldn't mess with the Philadelphia cheese steak," said Philly native Samuel Lehrer, who was eating takeout Chinese several blocks from Barclay Prime on Tuesday. "Let it alone."
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