Editor’s Note: Sometimes a restaurant review doesn’t need to include full details of the entire menu, especially if it’s a place we’ve already reviewed within recent history. To that end, we’re launching our new “Short Order” series that takes a quicker look at an individual dish that has caught our attention. If you have recommendations for future installments of Short Order, leave a comment below the article!
Wolf’s Ridge Brewing is doing a version of “Steak n’ Eggs” that veers sharply off the beaten path for the typical truck-stop favorite.
There are several clues that the house version is going to be interesting. First of all, it’s the only item on the menu that uses quotation marks in its title. It’s not Steak n’ Eggs, it’s “Steak n’ Eggs”. The menu description also involves tartare, bottarga and tobiko.
At the foundation of the offering is a mighty tower of tightly packed filet mignon tartare: silky smooth and meaty with capers in the mix. It’s crowned by layers of egg yolk bottarga (egg #1) and tobiko (egg #2). Tobiko is/are flying fish eggs (roe), you might know it from the sushi world: the teeny black pods add briny bursts of texture to every bite.
But wait, we’re not done yet. The steak and eggs wear a crown of delicate micro-greens and then it’s surrounded by vibrant drizzles of crimson and gold. The crimson swirl is banana ketchup, and the gold is (of course) spicy habanero mustard.
Steak, eggs, ketchup and mustard: sounds like a diner classic.
Or perhaps this version sounds more fru-fru? Well, yes. Look at it, it is fussy. And steak tartare, fish eggs and micro greens are certainly not the components of a truck-stop favorite. That said, here’s the kicker: it smells like a cheeseburger. And it tastes, not like a cheeseburger, but like something with the same briny, primitive appeal. It’s like a cheeseburger that’s evolved into an academic exploration. And that in itself gets irony points, because the act of cooking food is supposed to be some sort of component of human advancement.
You can score this SpotLight Bite from Wolf’s Ridge Brewing’s small plate options. It’s $17. Wolf’s Ridge Brewery can be found at 215 N. Fourth Street.
For more information, visit www.wolfsridgebrewing.com.
SHORT ORDER: Sometimes a restaurant review doesn’t need to include full details of the entire menu, especially if it’s a place we’ve already reviewed within recent history. To that end, “Short Order” is a series that takes a quicker look at an individual dish that has caught our attention. If you have recommendations for future installments of Short Order, leave a comment below the article!