$100 cheesesteak is a mouthful

By Michael Rubinkam
The Associated Press

JACQUELINE LARMA / AP Todd Miller of Barclay Prime restaurant does the final seasoning of his dressed-up version of the classic Philly cheesesteak yesterday. Miller uses Kobe beef, foie gras and truffles.

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Purists might howl, but the well-heeled and adventurous can dive into a sandwich that includes thinly sliced steak and melted cheese and 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 yesterday on Rittenhouse Square in downtown Philadelphia. But he predicted there will be customers who 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 entry 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, sautéed foie gras, caramelized onions and heirloom shaved tomatoes on a homemade brioche roll brushed with truffle butter and squirted with homemade mustard.

(Full disclosure: It is delicious.)

The original sandwich, available at hundreds of sandwich shops, pizzerias and burger joints throughout the city, is made with thin-sliced rib-eye steak 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 cheesesteak in 1930. Champagne is not included, or even recommended.

Barclay Prime's executive chef, Todd Miller, a Utah native who has worked at restaurants around the world, had never tasted a Philadelphia cheesesteak before he arrived in Philadelphia, but he sampled a number of them before concocting his version.

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 is 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 cheesesteak," said Philly native Samuel Lehrer. "Let it alone."