Blog

Jon Urbana’s American Wagyu Mecca – American Wagyu Beef

Jon Urbana’s American Wagyu Mecca – American Wagyu Beef

Introduction

Who doesn’t love a great steak? From Argentina to Spain, Australia to Morocco, Japan, and the United States, just hearing the sizzling pop of a steak hitting the grill can start mouths watering. A well-marbled, simply seasoned, perfectly cooked steak is hard to beat.

But not all beef is created equal. Most steaks found in grocery stores today come from factory-farmed cattle, resulting in cuts of beef that are tough and flavorless. Jon Urbana, the founder of the KOW Cattle Company, knows that the best steaks come from grass-fed, free-roaming, unstressed cattle. This is why globally renowned chefs clamor for his exquisite and unrivaled Wagyu beef.

American Wagyu Beef – how it started?

Wagyu beef is the most sought-after type of beef globally, known for its high quantity of intra-muscular fat marbling and very fine, almost silky muscle texture. Wagyu cattle are native to Japan and possess very different traits from the European cattle breeds that produce most of the beef consumed in the world today. The Wagyu cow is smaller and stockier than its European and Australian counterparts and produces meat so unique and flavorful that in 1997, the Japanese government declared it a national treasure and banned its export to other nations. Luckily for us, before the export ban, some heads of Wagyu had already made their way out of Japan, resulting in establishing several small production stocks around the world, although not nearly the size of the Japanese stock. You may also know it as, “Kobe beef,” which refers to Wagyu beef raised in the Kobe region of Japan, where the country sought to re-establish its Wagyu stock as a brand after its early export.

Jon Urbana

Jon Urbana is a sixth-generation farmer who manages and maintains a Wagyu herd in southern Iowa that produces some of the most sought-after beef in the world. Jon’s great grandfather made headlines in the United States cattle industry in the 1970s when he imported the first Wagyu stock into the United States from Japan on a Boeing 747. Since then, their brand, KOW Steaks, has been producing the finest Wagyu beef in the Western Hemisphere. Some of the world’s most notable culinary leaders, like award-winning chefs Nobu Matsuhisa, David Chang, and Gordon Ramsay, and renowned restaurants such as Strip House, Delmonico’s, BLT Steak, The Grill, The James Beard House, The Gotham Burger Social Club, and Boucherie are loyal customers.

Jon Urbana KOW brand

Jon Urbana’s KOW brand Wagyu beef is so prized by top commercial chefs that his inventory has not been readily available to the general consumer. Fortunately, you can enjoy the exquisite flavor of KOW Wagyu beef at top restaurants like New York City’s Bistrot Leo where they serve KOW Wagyu tenderloin tartare, filet skewers, a tomahawk steak, or even as a burger. But there is perhaps no better a showcase and celebration of Jon Urbana’s Wagyu beef than at Nobu 57, a New York City landmark restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. There, Nobu treats KOW striploin with a reverence that borders on mystical. As a testament to the superior quality of the beef, several Nobu preparations feature it raw; presented as paper-thin slices in ponzu sauce with a sprinkle of lightly toasted sesame or as nigiri sushi, with only a light sear. Nobu’s tataki-style KOW beef is pounded, quickly seared, and lightly seasoned not to mask the incredible flavor of the delicious, highly marbled cut.

2021 corrections – take away is a priority now

But if you can’t make it to one of these world-famous restaurants, you’re still in luck. KOW beef is also available to the public on KOW’s website, kowsteaks.com. Due to the popularity of KOW beef, not all cuts are always available on the website, but the options are always enticing. Will you be savoring the Tomahawk Ribeye used by Delmonico’s Steakhouse, or the same buttery filet used by the Michelin-starred Fiola in Miami? Maybe you’ll score KOW’s Wagyu brisket, the premier choice of world-class barbecue Pitmasters across the country who revere it for its incomparable marbling that produces the best burnt ends possible. Or, perhaps you’d prefer the eye-popping zebra-stripe marbling of the buttery-firm, tender American Tri-Tip that, when smoked, produces an incredible depth of flavor.

Conclusion

Whichever cut you choose, Jon Urbana’s mastery of the art of raising and producing the finest Wagyu beef on the planet is obvious. KOW’s Wagyu cuts set a standard for beef, in any cuisine, that cannot be matched.



Categories

No Comments

Leave a Reply