On April 17, 2012, the Vegas Strip Steak was unveiled exclusively as the “newest” beef steak at the Protein Innovation Summit in Chicago, Ill.
“The Vegas Strip Steak is the latest and perhaps last steak to be found from the beef carcass,” said Jacob Nelson, Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center value-added meat processing specialist.
Nelson along with Tony Mata, Mata & Associates, and Rick Gresh, chef at David Burke’s Primehouse at The James Hotel in Chicago, Ill., arranged an invitation only dinner for the first sampling of the steak at the Trump International Hotel & Tower.
“The Vegas Strip Steak was well received by the audience,” Mata said. “They tasted it, loved it and applauded.”
With more than 30 years of beef carcass research and development, Mata, the self-proclaimed Meat Geek, approached Nelson and Oklahoma State University’s FAPC with the possibility of a new beef carcass cut.
“Initially, the cut was labeled as undervalued,” Mata said. “Whenever we can take a muscle and turn it into a steak rather than grinding it or selling it as a roast, we are adding value to the carcass.”