Bobby Flay's Throwdown! (9 page)

Name: Tony Luke Jr.
Establishment: Tony Luke’s
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Website:
www.tonylukes.com
Phone: (215) 551-5725

It was time to take on two Philly icons: cheese steak and its king, Tony Luke. Could my gourmet twist on the Philly classic be enough to topple tradition? Would I get some brotherly love? Forgetaboutit!

The only place cheesesteaks taste good is in Philadelphia. That’s where they were born in the 1930s, and the competition among the local sandwich shops, each wanting to claim their version as the best, keeps the bar for excellence set high. You’d be hard-pressed to find a Philly native who isn’t fiercely loyal to their favorite cheesesteak and ready to fight to the death to prove it. There’s Pat’s, Geno’s, and then my fave, Tony Luke’s.

Tony Luke opened his now-famous cheesesteak shop in 1992 with his sons Nick and Tony. This is a family business; as Tony Jr. says, he was “born with a silver spatula in hand.” Tony Luke’s cheesesteaks were voted the Best of Philly in 1994, 1999, and 2004. They use only fresh ingredients, making each of the 2,000 sandwiches they sell a day to order. They also bake their own bread, and not just once a day, but every hour!

An authentic Philly cheesesteak is a sandwich of thinly sliced beef (Tony Luke uses rib eye) that is cooked on a griddle with onions and cheese and served on a soft Italian roll. All flavors should marry, with no one component standing out. The classic has no mushrooms or peppers. There are a couple of basic questions to answer when ordering a Philly cheesesteak: You can get it either “wit or witout” the onions, and then there’s the question of the cheese—provolone, which has great flavor, or Cheez Whiz, which has the perfect melting consistency and becomes totally integrated with the steak.

I know Tony, so I knew my work would be cut out for me. This time, Steph and Miriam offered no real help in the test kitchen. Miriam had never eaten a Philly cheesesteak in her life, and Stephanie, who was born and raised in western Pennsylvania, wasn’t a fan simply on principle (there’s no love lost between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia). I had to come up with my own strategy, and that was to make a cheesesteak with more refined flavors.

I started with the cheese, opting to make my own aged provolone sauce, which has a pronounced flavor but also the creamy texture of the Whiz for the best of both worlds. As for the with or without, I went all in, cooking my beef with cubano peppers, caramelized onions, and sautéed mushrooms. I chose sirloin for its tenderness, and while I normally wouldn’t take any steak past medium-rare, I did follow this Philly rule: all steak is cooked through.

This Throwdown day had a rocky start. Stephanie was under the weather and couldn’t make the trip to Philly, so I made a 4 a.m. phone call to my trusty ex-sous-chef Christine Sanchez, who agreed to fill in. Tony may have been surprised at first, but he gave us a warm welcome. I thought he would be making his classic cheesesteak, but he changed plans, pulled out all the stops, and switched his entry to “The Italian”: steak dressed up with broccoli rabe, Italian red hot peppers, fried onions, and slices of aged sharp provolone.

A little something I picked up from Tony and his Philly crowd is the proper way to eat a cheesesteak, and this is it: Stick your butt out, bend over slightly, and go for it. A good sandwich is going to drip, but this way when it does, it drips on the ground, not on your shirt. Maybe. But now it was the judges’ turn to do the eating. April White, then food editor of
Philadelphia
magazine, and Ben Franklin (the one, but not the only) both said that Tony’s cheesesteak was perfectly balanced with juicy meat, wonderful cheese, a soft roll, and Philly attitude. They loved mine too, especially the cheese sauce. But the entry with the slight edge was revealed to be Tony’s and this Throwdown was his. There can be only one town for cheesesteaks, and that’s Philadelphia, and in that town, Tony Luke’s should be your stop.

SERVES 6 TO 8

1.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter and the canola oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and caramelized, 35 to 40 minutes.

2.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a medium sauté pan over high heat. Add the chiles and cook until soft, about 5 mintues. Season with salt and pepper.

3.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until they are golden brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper.

4.
Heat a griddle over high heat and drizzle with a little olive oil. Season the meat with salt and pepper and cook, in batches, until just cooked through, about 45 seconds per side.

5.
Place several slices of the meat on the bottom half of each roll, spoon some of the cheese sauce over the meat, and top with any combination of the mushrooms, onions, and peppers.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the hot milk, increase the temperature to high, and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the provolone, Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Serve warm.

SERVES 2 TO 4