‘100% Australian for us': Why chefs won't open the door to US beef
Imported American steak: it's a topic many of Australia's fine-dining restaurants would rather avoid. The operators of more than 10 hatted restaurants, including Rockpool Bar and Grill and Grill Americano, declined or failed to respond to Good Food's requests for comment on their appetite for US steak.
The questions followed the Albanese government's decision to lift remaining biosecurity restrictions on Thursday.
Australia has restricted the import of American beef since an outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, in 2003. While the total ban on US beef lifted in 2019, restrictions on cattle raised in Mexico and Canada, then processed in the US, remained until now.
But don't expect to see a US T-bone on a restaurant menu anytime soon, says Peter Gunn, chef at two-hatted Ides in inner Melbourne.
'I think everyone is just too invested in what we have at home,' he says. 'The moment we start purchasing from elsewhere, it takes away from [local farmers] … It's always 100 per cent Australian, for us.'
Corey Costelloe, former Rockpool Bar and Grill executive chef and co-owner of hatted restaurant 20 Chapel in Sydney's Marrickville, says an open market could have a positive impact on Australian producers.
'I think it's a great thing,' Costelloe says. 'If Australians want to eat American beef they will … but I think it will just show how much better Australian beef is.'
While some US farmers, such as Good Ranchers in Texas and Meriwether Farms in Wyoming, adhere to strict quality standards, Costelloe says 20 Chapel has no plans to introduce American beef to the menu.
'A lot of the beef over there … [is] very one-dimensional in flavour. It's fatty and it's juicy, and then after you've had that fatty and juicy part, it completely fades.
'It's like getting a cask wine versus a beautiful bottle that someone put time and care into. There's just no comparison.'
Melbourne butcher Gary McBean echoes that opinion. 'I don't think it compares at all with really high-quality, grass-fed cattle that's just full of flavour. The grain-fed beef [I've eaten in the US] was OK, but it didn't have the flavour of the grass-fed.'
He has no plans to introduce US beef into his cabinets at Prahran Market. 'I think good quality butchers should support local farmers, 100 per cent. Why support American farmers?'
Commentary from industry body Cattle Australia suggested that US beef would not be able to compete on price with Australian-raised meat, and so it would be only premium or sought-after products that reach our shores.
Costelloe says it would be difficult for US products to compete with the local market: 'We've got so many different styles here – you can get grass-fed, hemp-fed, corn-fed … and with the Australian dollar being the way it is, I just don't see how [US beef] would be competitive with an Australian product once you put in shipping costs.'
McBean agrees. 'Even if [the meat] does come in cheap, I don't think that will impact Australian prices at all, because we're already exporting a lot ourselves.'
James Bradey, director of the hospitality group behind Sydney steakhouses Bistecca and Alfie's, says they'll be sticking to Australian beef for its consistency – in terms of quality and availability.
'We're quite proud of having Australian beef, but more importantly, it's that consistent supply chain,' he says. 'So yes, [US beef] is coming in now, but that might change in the future.
And besides, Costelloe says, 'there's a reason why, when you go to some of these popular restaurants in Japan, they're serving imported Australian beef. It's the best in the world.'
The feeling is mutual – Australian restaurants also revere steak produced in Japan, Costelloe says. Currently, Japanese A5 wagyu is one of the only imported beef products served in Australian fine-dining restaurants.
Bradey says there's a public perception of Japanese beef production as methodical and meticulous, 'but you don't really have that association with America; it's more fried chicken, fast food chains and pizza.'
Asked whether he would use a premium US product akin to Japanese wagyu, chef Haitham Richani of Melbourne CBD steakhouse II.II.VI. said: 'Logistically it wouldn't make sense to get something from the other side of the world when we can get A5 Japanese wagyu directly.'
He acknowledges US beef may create more competition but believes 'locally produced beef will still have the edge in terms of quality'.
Despite Australians displaying a growing fascination with US imports of fast-food brands, from Five Guys to Wingstop to Cinnabon, there appears to be a hurdle higher up the food chain, where premium restaurants remain fiercely loyal to Australian-grown products.
Ultimately, it's the customer who will have the final say, says Costelloe: 'Diners will choose what they prefer, and I don't think it would be a very good selling point if you advertise American beef on your menu. Good luck to anyone who wants to try.'
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