Hungry like the wolf

With apologies to Simon and Nick, Duran Duran probably didn’t have a 28-day dry-aged piece of USDA Prime in mind when they wrote that ’80s MTV anthem, but if the band had an ounce of paleo muscle, they would be seeking out the New York-style Wolfgang Steakhouse, which just opened its second branch in the Philippines at the ground floor of the revamped SM Podium Mall.

After making a splash with its Resorts World opening two years ago, Wolfgang, started by eponymous father and son Peter Zwiener as a steak restaurant committed to dry-aging meat preparation (freshly flown and chilled USDA Prime beef is kept in aging boxes on the premises for up to 28 days, and even longer by request), continues to expand the lengths that Filipinos are willing to go for a superior cut and serving of beef.

Sitting in Wolfgang’s 80-seater location in busy Ortigas Center, the kind of business/upscale locale that invites carnivores and curious foodies of every stripe, we see Mr. Zwiener — a former New York banker — flanked by his longtime partners, executive chef Amiro Cruz, training head Lydia D’Amato, and local partners Raymund Magdaluyo and Marvin Agustin. We are discussing what makes dry-aged beef so special.

“First,” begins Zwiener, “you have to make sure you get the finest US meat possible, which is USDA Prime.” Only about two percent of US beef is rated USDA Prime, so Wolfgang focuses on that range. They also carefully select the breed of cattle — only Angus and Black Angus — focusing on certain ranches and purveyors.

“The beef has to be shipped quickly after slaughter within two to three days — it’s chilled, never frozen — so it can be stored in aging boxes on premise as soon as possible.”

Those aging boxes hold up to two tons of beef with temperature and humidity controls allowing natural enzymes to slowly break down connective tissue in the cuts. The result: very tender beef. 

Aging beef is a meticulous process, one that Wolfgang learned during 40 years as headwaiter for New York’s iconic Peter Luger’s Steakhouse. “We arrived at 28 days for aging because in that time, 96 percent of the meat’s tenderness is achieved,” says Zwiener. “The flavor profile is intense, but not too intense.”

Strangely, people do ask for meat that been has aged much longer. “Some people will go as far as 50, 60 or even 70 days. We can handle those kinds of orders, though it’s unusual.” What kind of flavor profiles come from aging meat that long? “There’s an earthy flavor, an intensity,” says Peter. Some would say funky. “The rib eye is juicier, so we can go longer with aging. I wouldn’t recommend 70 days, but we can do it.”

We’re in an age, after all, of extreme food experiences. People, especially in still-exotic Asia, will seek out something beyond the everyday steak. But Zwiener is a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy: “I grew up on steak, we had steak most meals, and it was ingrained in me that steak is equivalent to life.” And it’s best served rare: “With rare you get to taste the beef the way it is naturally. Most people in the States like it medium-rare, but when you really start eating a lot of meat and you want to start tasting the fiber and flavor and everything else, the less you cook it, the better.”

We start tucking into the items that will make up Wolfgang’s “business lunch” menu, and it includes popular classics like a seafood platter (fresh crab and shrimp), both a Caesar and Beverly Hills chopped salad, a hearty beef barley soup, and finally, a pleasantly sonorous slab of USDA Prime porterhouse — that’s right, its sizzling literally sings on the plate — and you can tell why Wolfgang prides itself on selling the steak as well as the sizzle: about 800 grams of delicious, medium-rare, dry-aged beef is sliced and served up to us. Next to it is the USDA Prime rib eye, which is smaller, fattier and juicier.

With dry-aged beef, one notices the locked-in flavor beneath the initial excitement of the sizzle: it’s perfectly tender to the bite, not over-tender, and requires no sauce. (A bit of butter, salt and pan-searing is all that’s needed to seal the deal.) The theory behind dry aging is that natural enzymes over time break down the tissues in the beef, resulting in a tenderer slab. It probably helps that it’s a superior cut of beef to begin with.

Wolfgang chose Manila as its first Southeast Asian market (the raves of Raymund and Marvin, who visited one of their New York branches, convinced them to partner up in 2014). Opening a second outlet here after Resorts World says a lot about the refining of Filipino tastes. “When I was growing up in the late ’90s and the first Starbucks opened in Ayala, we weren’t sure Filipinos were ready to pay P100 for a cup of coffee,” recalls partner Magdaluyo. And look at how many Starbucks outlets there are now. “And when Wolfgang opened we weren’t sure if Filipinos were ready to pay $100 for a steak dinner.”

With plans to open a third branch at High Street, BGC, this June, it seems the market is only expanding. “I think the pricing of Wolfgang at this particular level is no longer shocking,” Raymund notes, adding that the average check at Wolfgang in Resorts World even went up from about $70 to $90 per person. The reason? More Filipinos are ordering wine with their steak.

Asia continues to expand for Wolfgang, with branches in the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, one in China and four in Japan. Asia is the kind of place where a steak dinner is perfect for celebrations, graduations and family get-togethers. Plus, there is that other thing proven by history: “With respect to human beings,” opines Zwiener, “I believe that we are carnivores.”

We’ll raise a knife and fork to that.