The West Coast meat joints where diners can have a butcher’s at their dinner before cooking

When conjuring up images of body-conscious LA, huge slabs of beef might not be the first thing that comes to mind, but the city is home to a bevy of meat-centric restaurants where in-house bespoke butchering, curing and high-tech storage chambers are the order of the day. From Michelin-starred outfits to more commercial enterprises, such as Meat on Ocean in Santa Monica with its massive meat locker on display for customers watching the sunset, tinseltown has turned carnivore.
If you want to learn more, chef David LeFevre, at the Arthur J in Manhattan Beach, offers a class on grade, cuts, ageing, seasoning, temperatures, resting and basic butchery, followed by a tasting of 10-12 steaks. Here are a handful of fresh offerings in LA where the chef is doing double-time as the butcher, often with the choice cuts on full display.
APL Restaurant
Adam Perry Lang’s steakhouse has an underground chamber that takes the art of curing and dry-ageing meat under controlled humidity and temperature to a new level. Lang (pictured above) butchers all the meat and even hand-forges steel knives for precision cutting.
Gwen
Gwen’s storefront case displays everything from boar prosciutto and aged culatello to venison and antelope. Nearby, carcasses hang from hooks in a locker, and you might find chef Curtis Stone or head butcher Andrew Sutton in an ageing room carving up a hazelnut-fattened pig.
Tesse
At Tesse (short for delicatessen), 18 charcuterie varieties are on display in an ageing and curing refrigeration system behind the bar. There is also a stuffing and casing machine, and an area where sausages are salt cured and hung until ready for wood smoking.
Rossoblu
Rossoblu has a temperature-controlled butcher box room where all meats are on show for private dining guests via a glass window. Chef Steve Samson is hands on when breaking down a whole pig or wood-firing a mixed grill with tomahawk pork chops and house sausages.
As originally featured in the October 2018 issue of Wallpaper* (W*235)
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Carole Dixon is a prolific lifestyle writer-editor currently based in Los Angeles. As a Wallpaper* contributor since 2004, she covers travel, architecture, art, fashion, food, design, beauty, and culture for the magazine and online, and was formerly the LA City editor for the Wallpaper* City Guides to Los Angeles.
-
Can you capture the essence of New York in a mini fridge? This brand thinks so
Smart appliance brand Rocco has teamed up with Katz’s Deli on a bright orange drinks fridge that pays homage to sports and the subway
-
Van Cleef & Arpels’ move into literature is part of luxury’s latest cultural shift
As L’École, School of Jewelry Arts, supported by Van Cleef & Arpels and Franco Maria Ricci, publishes a multilingual series of books, we ask, how is luxury warming up to literature?
-
Inside Hotel Chelsea’s secret basement sushi restaurant
Teruko, a new Japanese restaurant and sushi bar in Hotel Chelsea, marks the final jewel in the hotel’s years-long transformation
-
Inside Hotel Chelsea’s secret basement sushi restaurant
Teruko, a new Japanese restaurant and sushi bar in Hotel Chelsea, marks the final jewel in the hotel’s years-long transformation
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Fouquet’s New York: a lush, urban cocoon for the 21st century
Set in the heart of Tribeca, Fouquet’s New York balances French-inspired refinement and cosiness
-
This surreal new seafood restaurant in LA is the stuff of mermaid's dreams
At Cento Raw Bar, delectable fare is complemented by playful, oceanic interiors by Brandon Miradi
-
At The Ned Nomad in New York, home comforts meet a lively atmosphere
This hotel and social club is a vibrant hub of hospitality that evokes 1920s glamour for members and visitors alike
-
How Melrose Hill became LA’s hottest art district
A billionaire developer, renowned art dealers and cutting-edge restaurateurs have come together to reinvigorate this vibrant – and walkable – neighbourhood
-
For the breakfast lover that is not a morning person, this Hollywood café is for you
Start your day with a ceremonial strawberry matcha latte and freshly baked viennoiseries amid the glamour of Café Goldie at the W Hollywood
-
The best bars in New York for stiff drinks and stunning design
From five-star hotel lobby bars on the Upper East Side to discreet downtown drinking dens, these are the best spots to sip and soak in the ambiance
-
Beverly Hills’ latest hot ticket is a Chinese restaurant with a hidden speakeasy feel
Chef Mei Lin’s 88 Club pays tribute to the prosperity, success, and good fortune symbolised by the number 8 in Chinese culture