http://www.thefamoussteakhouse.net/blog/rss/feedsThe Famous Steak House is an award winning prime steaks, fresh seafood, premium wines and piano bar provide a provocative mix of atmosphere and entertainment.Wed, 06 May 2026 05:09:00 -0700http://www.thefamoussteakhouse.net/blog/post/deconstructing-what-makes-the-famous-famous-appetitehttp://www.thefamoussteakhouse.net/blog/post/deconstructing-what-makes-the-famous-famous-appetiteBy Matthew Schniper, C.S. Independent This isn't so much a review as a semi-guided query: Why did Indy readers vote The Famous as our best fine dining and best overall restaurant this year? It's a question underlying many others I initially posed to general manager Johnathan Shankland last month, while trying to flush out the subtle qualities that distinguish this leather-booth-and-steak-knife setup from every other in this inconsistent world, where price never really guarantees a superior meal. And the answer isn't as simple as talking about a chef, or front-house philosophy, or ingredient sourcing, menu execution, alcohol adeptness or ambiance. It's presumably a cocktail of all those elements that compelled voters — and maybe a little something, too, about generally big portions, which gift a larger-than-life tint to tastings. In the Famous' 12 years, Shankland says, its success has been built upon adherence to core principles, one of them being giving customers what they want. Yes, because we live in big houses and drive big cars, we tend to like our meat cuts Texas-worthy. And damn if we don't love deals, like a Friday lunch special where a burger or Red Bird chicken salad and bottle of Colorado craft beer or half glass of wine is only $12. (I was erroneously charged $13, but could hardly complain, having enjoyed live Colorado Springs Conservatory music as part of the bundle.) Even the pickle that tops a bowl of oregano-forward coleslaw is massive. And excellent, outwardly floral house rosemary onion sourdough makes the bun an equal highlight to the protein, which is 40 percent ground chuck from Hotchkiss' 7X Beef and 60 percent trim from pricey primal cuts. Ample fat delivers flavor and juiciness under a gooey blue cheese cap, even when the burger ordered medium-rare arrives bereft of pinkness on a notably cold bun. Sundays deliver additional deals, with three courses for $34.95 a head, or a surf-and-turf deal that includes a prime filet and lobster tail (each 7 ounces) for $49.95. Get a standout Caesar salad as course the first, and a fine, dense, flourless chocolate torte as the finisher. We passed over the 16-ounce ribeye, an organic salmon cut or the filet solo (the three-course options) to delight in the crustacean with a glistening drawn-butter sweat. The filet, meanwhile, cut like an Ahi tuna chop, brilliantly pink throughout and seasoned lightly with a proprietary house blend. Shankland later toured me through the kitchen to see the two-broiler oven unit that makes the magic, noting that chef Brian Sack and crew will constantly rotate steaks from the prep drawers to allow them to come up to room temp before firing, enabling an even cook-through before too heavy an exterior char. And because Shankland and I trace a professional friendship back to his Broadmoor days, he insists on comping us two cocktails while treating us to a cursory sampling of several Amaros (Italian herbal digestifs or aperitifs) and other elusively infused bitters with which the bartenders have been playing. Cardamaro, an oak-aged, wine-based spirit steeped with artichoke and blessed thistle, and bearing baking spice and sweet sherry notes, informs my Café Racer ($8) along with Carpano Antica Vermouth and orange peel. A Spring44 honey vodka-strong Ginger Me Timbers ($12) doesn't deliver a lot of ginger bite, considering it's made with Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur and ginger shrub (the root reduced with cider vinegar and sugar), plus lemon peel and a faint Earl Grey simple syrup. Another way to stay on budget, if not splurging for a $46 New York Strip or $48 rack of Colorado lamb, is to go à la carte with small plates. The French onion soup ($6) sports an incomparably deep beef base, so much so that upon first sip with a string of Gruyere cheese in tow, I feel like I've just nibbled from meatball lasagna. Pacific Northwest oysters ($13) are still amply fresh two days after last delivery, and worrying types can bury them in potent horseradish, lemon juice or cocktail sauce. Most bully is the charred applewood Wisconsin pork belly ($13), a prolific slab plated with a tower of onion rings and a peppery Cabernet reduction. Less like gelatinous-centered renditions, this turns the divine substance into something more like barbecued holiday ham, with tougher strata peeling apart under a flaky bark. It pretty much tastes like being hugged by a loved one. Ultimately, all is reduced to a feeling. That's what motivates memories of The Famous come ballot time. That nearly flawless meal, in a setting not so upper-crust-stiff as dim-lit swank, more foundational than experimental but still fun with a little help from some hooch. Simply put, The Famous is Mad Men-set-ready classic. Cheers to our best.Wed, 22 Oct 2014 00:00:00 -0700http://www.thefamoussteakhouse.net/blog/post/review-bombay-sapphire-gin-dinner-at-the-famoushttp://www.thefamoussteakhouse.net/blog/post/review-bombay-sapphire-gin-dinner-at-the-famousThen Johnathan Shankland, general manager at the Famous, kindly asked me to be his guest (i.e., comped me) for the event — the first in what he hopes will be one similar special dinner a month. (Keep an eye on the Famous' Facebook page for updates.) Shankland and chef Brian Sack partnered with Bombay Sapphire brand specialist Corie Riden to present the four-course, gin-cocktail-paired meal. If you'd like to simply take a quick photo tour, watch a slideshow by clicking here or clicking this photo: Bombay Sapphire meets a Pernod-washed glass, Champagne, lemon juice and pear puree laced with baking spices. If you'd like the cocktail recipes, Shankland will post them on the Famous' Facebook page soon. But if you want the sexy details, stick with me for a quick recap. First, Riden introduced Bombay Sapphire, discussing the 10 internationally sourced botanicals that provide its unique flavor. A display in the center of our table housed the dried form of each botanical, from Spanish lemon peel and almonds to Moroccan coriander and Italian juniper berries — all of which we could open and smell or taste if we preferred. Also, a central display table (viewable in the above slideshow) featured "deconstructed" bottles of gin with only one of those 10 ingredients each, to highlight each one's contribution to the whole. She mentioned that Bombay Sapphire owns four of 10 special Carter Head pot stills in the world. The botanicals are placed in a basket through which the grain spirit vapor rises, allowing the botanicals to impart their essence. Bombay Sapphire's recipe dates to 1761, she says, though the company only formed in 1987, and has gained market share rapidly since. It's now No. 2 in Colorado, behind Tanqueray. Our greeting drink was a deliciously simple Gin Rickey with lime and soda, paired with some fantastic organic Scottish smoked salmon (via Shetland Aquaculture) on toasted pumpernickel with dollops of caviar and crème fraîche. (I may or may not have eaten four of them between conversation. Hey, there was plenty to go around ...) Smoked salmon getting its most optimal culinary treatment. For the first course, chef Sack beautifully prepared a sea scallop with a Champagne beurre blanc and an amazing little cube of anise-pear gelee (like a Jell-O lump) to match the pear and Champagne in the gin cocktail (pictured above with the slideshow link). The tiny cube under the sprout is the anise pear gelee. Second up: both Golden Mantle and Shigoku oysters topped with a fine dice of cucumber and candied ginger mignonette. The oysters weren't briny and the ginger, being candied, wasn't biting on the tongue, but soft and mildly sweet. The ginger liqueur in the next cocktail, mixed with bitters, fresh orange and a house-infused ginger-cucumber agave syrup, was also soft; cucumber always makes me think of a summertime drink, and this one is appropriately light for the continued hot days we're having. Perhaps the most beautifully colored cocktail of the night. Third course: Nope, not steak, even though we're sitting in the premier steakhouse in town. Shankland intentionally wanted to demonstrate that the Famous isn't just for your special-occasion steak. So, after the seafood rounds, we got a roasted Berkshire pork loin with a slightly thickened gin-juniper reduction (essentially an infused au jus) and some "basil-scented" new potatoes. Perfectly cooked, it was simply a powerhouse course with exceptional flavor. Shankland credited Famous grill guy John Hagen, who has been with the restaurant since its opening. He calls him "an unsung hero downtown," who will go weeks or more without having a single plate sent back to the kitchen with temperature complaints (out of many hundreds or thousands of plates). Herb-rich and super-tender, this is pork treated right. That course was paired with a really wonderful clear cocktail (again, see photo in slideshow) that contained St. Germain, lemon, basil, soda, Amaretto and Amaretto-macerated berries. It wasn't too sweet or sticky, and the mountain herbs from the St. Germain blended easily with those present in the Bombay Sapphire. The fruit was subtle, and a nice pairing with the pork in the way that some pork recipes will call for a berry (if not apple) sauce. Lastly, as a coconut freak, I was a huge fan of the coconut milk Panna Cotta with a yellow curry syrup. Like, this was perhaps the best Panna Cotta I've ever had, or at least that I can recall. Talk about a perfectly textured night: each component nailed its ideal form, including this firm-pudding-like panna cotta. The curry component played wonderfully with some of the gin's botanicals — perhaps it was the grains of paradise from West Africa or the cassia bark via Asia. The vanilla beans and dried herb crumble as garnish also harmonized well with the cocktail, which also contained coconut milk, this time with lime, egg whites (for texture, as in notable pre-Prohibition drinks like a gin fizz), lemongrass syrup, ginger beer and a single sage leaf for garnish (to smell as you sip). It's a classy touch to have a garnish meant specifically for boozy aromatherapy. Another deserved shout out to bartender Luis Rodriguez, who executed the drinks that it appeared Shankland, Riden and Sack all had a hand in designing and vetting. I can tell you sincerely, that after around seven years of sporadically attending special dinners similar to this all over town, this was one of the most impressive and unique I've been to, with no flaws and stand-out food and drink. It's also the only gin dinner I can think of locally, though a great Colorado cocktail dinner from 2011 at the Summit at the Broadmoor did come to mind as another fun spirits-paired meal. While on the subject, a Colorado spirits event is planned for 10 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Famous. It will be set up more as an informal tasting than sit down meal. Again, keep an eye on the Famous' Facebook page for details on that, soon, as well as future dinners of this caliber. Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0700http://www.thefamoussteakhouse.net/blog/post/dining-review-the-famous-worth-emptying-your-wallethttp://www.thefamoussteakhouse.net/blog/post/dining-review-the-famous-worth-emptying-your-wallet Walking into The Famous, A Steakhouse on a recent Wednesday evening, you would never know we’re in the middle of hard economic times. The polished, dark leather booths hummed with the conversation of well-heeled diners leaning over slender martinis and rotund globes of red wine. Waiters all in black, whisked by bearing trays of steaks thick as dictionaries — some loaded with shrimp or crab. The clink of glasses at the bar mixed with the lilt of the piano, which was playing a song that never goes out of style: “You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss …” + caption The Famous is as timeless as the song. It opened as an upstart high-end steakhouse in 2002, but the swank dining room, with its dim glow and din of dishes and discussion so soothing that it could be sold on iTunes, looks as if it has always been on the corner of Kiowa and Tejon streets. In the nine years since it opened, little has changed but the smoking policy. It is comfortable and sophisticated, lavish and private, and always in style. The only thing that ages here is the steak. And that steak. It is gorgeous, marbled USDA Prime — the best money can buy. Only 3 percent of beef qualifies. It is aged to bring out the flavor and slapped with just a hint of seasoning. The Famous has other entrees — perfectly nice chicken and fish, lamb and pork — but better versions of those can be found elsewhere in the city. If you come here, it’s for the slabs of beef. The Famous is unapologetically pricey. A 10-ounce filet mignon runs $37, a 20-ounce Kansas City Strip runs $48. Neither include sides. I’m almost certain the $50 porterhouse is the priciest steak in the city. The restaurant is aimed at the people and occasions that hard economic times rarely touch. But is it worth it for the rest of us? Believe it or not, yes. While The Famous costs a bit more that other good local steakhouses, it serves better beef, and since a salad and bread are included in the meal, it’s unlikely anyone would miss the sides. If you are going to splurge on steak, this is the place to go. Your wallet might regret it, but you won’t. And, of course, if you are splurging anyway, you might as well really indulge yourself. A good place to start is a half-dozen raw oysters ($13), served quivering in their rocky shells on a bed of ice. Most oysters available locally are dull gulf oysters with little flavor beyond what you put on them. These are from the briny fjords of British Columbia, and have a tart, metallic zing that tastes like kissing the sea. Another option is shrimp cocktail ($16), a martini glass weighed down with four enormous prawns. On our visit they were a bit too firm — possibly overcooked — but the fresh, real horseradish in the cocktail sauce made up for the mistake. After appetizers, enjoy handmade rosemary-flecked bread that you tear apart with your hands while you wait for those steaks. And, oh, those steaks. You can smell them as they go by to other tables. You can see the perfect ebony sear from the grill. You twiddle your knife in your hands. You almost can’t bear it. Then they arrive. An oval plate holds the steak and just the steak, sitting in a hot puddle of its own juices. To the fork it is just slightly tough and crusty on the outside, then yielding and silky and pink inside, the press of the tines releasing dribbles of hot blood. (If you don’t like your steak rare, it’s a waste to eat prime beef.) You lift it to your mouth, and it tastes so heavenly that you’re sure it’s sinful. The Colorado natural rib-eye ($36) is juicy and fatty and messy, a true meat-lover’s steak. The New York strip ($42) is more refined and tidy, but just as delicious. The filet is almost pudding-tender. You can’t go wrong. The sides, if for some reason you crave more than meat, are also quite good. Creamed spinach ($8) somehow steers clear of being glop — the pulverized greens are barely cooked, almost crisp, in their creamy sauce. The mashed potatoes ($8) are simple and rich but not overdone. The green beans are a needed shot of health food in a sea of artery-clogging choices. All are served family style — plenty for two or three diners. Beyond beef, The Famous offers a few supporting entrees. A salmon steak ($30) swims in a rich sauce of wine and butter with sautéed mushrooms and crisp bacon bits. The fish is moist, well-cooked and deliciously wild. (As with the oysters, you can taste the sea.) A double pork chop ($29) in an immensely rich pan sauce was supremely juicy, but a tad deceiving. The menu said it was from White Marble Farms. When I asked our server what White Marble was, he said it was a Northern California farm known for great pork. In fact (thank you, Google) it is a premium brand from restaurant-supply juggernaut Sysco. If The Famous wants to get in on the boutique-pork game, it should switch to Niman Ranch. Desserts are fairly good, if undistinguished. A huge slice of New York cheesecake ($8) was light, firm and pleasantly tart. A crème brulée ($8) was a tad underdone, with too much burnt sugar on top, as if it had been rushed. But no matter, you don’t come to a steakhouse for dessert, and if you order the right steak, you don’t have room, anyway. Nothing on The Famous’ menu is particularly novel or creative. There are no frills. This is just timeless, premium steaks done well — the type of thing that, hard times or not, never goes out of style. THE FAMOUS, A STEAKHOUSE4 STARS out of 5(prime beef)Address: 31 N. Tejon St.Contact: 227-7333, thefamoussteakhouse.netHours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; 4-11 p.m. Saturdays and SundaysEntrees: $26-$50Vegetarian: Seriously? No, just sidesAlcohol: Full barCredit cards: Yes Wed, 05 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0700