This just in from Steve...
Apparently there was a long standing tradition in the hallowed streets of New York City called "Beefsteak". Wikipedia briefly describes it as:
A celebratory dinner, commonly held in New York between about 1870 and 1940, stag until the 1920s, involving the consumption of enormous quantities of broiled steak and beer. Participants were permitted to eat only with their fingers; other dishes served as appetizers at beefsteaks included hamburgers, lamb chops, kidneys and occasionally baked potatoes.Around 2000, Beacon Restaurant Beacon Restaurant reinstated the tradition; this year, Beacon's 8th Annual Beefsteak seems to be already sold out at a slight increase from the original price of $5 per person to a 2008 price of $175 per person, which includes tax, tip, and a $30 donation to Green Chimney's Children Services.
There's lots more to read about via Beacon's informational Beefsteak PDF, here's an excerpt:
"ALL YOU CAN HOLD FOR FIVE BUCKS"
Written by Joseph Mitchell, Originally printed in The New Yorker Magazine, 1939
The New York State steak dinner, or “beefsteak,” is a form of gluttony as stylized and regional as the riverbank fish fry, the hot-rock clambake, or the Texas barbecue. Some old chefs believe it had its origin sixty or seventy years ago, when butchers from the slaughterhouses on the East River would sneak choice loin cuts into the kitchens of nearby saloons, grill them over charcoal, and feast on them during their Saturday-night sprees.
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