Press

The press record here is unusual for a single restaurant, and the reason is that the story was never only about the food. The arrival of certified Kobe beef in New York after a long import gap was a business and authentication story as much as a dining one, which is why the coverage runs from Forbes and Bloomberg through to daytime television and food-video channels — outlets that would not normally cover a mid-sized Midtown steakhouse at all.

A recurring theme runs through almost all of it: the gap between what “Kobe beef” meant on American menus and what the certification actually required. Several of the pieces below are investigative rather than promotional, and they are listed here because they form part of the same record.

Entries below are summarised in our own words. Where you want the original reporting, the publication and year are given so you can find it.

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• First We Feast · 2017A video segment in the outlet's food-skills series, following the preparation of Kobe steak in the restaurant's kitchen.
• New York Post · 2016A feature on food-industry mislabelling that used Kobe beef as a central case study in how premium terms get diluted.
• Eater · 2015Reporting on the return of properly certified Kobe beef to American restaurants after years of absence, and what certification requires.
• Obsev · 2015An explainer on why genuine Kobe beef commands the prices it does, and how diners are commonly misled by the term.
• Arise Entertainment 360 · 2015A television segment in which the restaurant's owner and executive chef explained Kobe certification and cooked on air.
• Manhattan Connection · 2015A Brazilian television feature profiling the restaurant among New York steakhouses.
• Broadway World · 2015Coverage of the lunch service, aimed at the theatre and Midtown audience.
• IN New York Magazine · 2015A feature on the beef programme for the city's visitor-facing magazine.
• New York Natives · 2015A short profile focused on the Kobe offering.
• Tastemade · 2015An episode in a video series eating across twenty-four New York restaurants in a single day.
• Huffington Post · 2015An overview of the continuing expansion of high-end steakhouses in New York City.
• John Mariani, Virtual Gourmet · 2015A review by the long-running American food and restaurant critic.
• Forbes · 2014Reporting on the return of genuine Kobe beef to New York after a thirteen-year gap in imports.
• Eater New York · 2014Inclusion in a roundup of notable whole-fish dishes served in New York City restaurants.
• The Meredith Vieira Show · 2014A two-part daytime television segment featuring the restaurant.
• Resident Magazine · 2014A feature on the Kobe beef programme.
• Manhattan With a Twist · 2014A profile of the restaurant and its beef sourcing.
• Joonbug · 2014A dining feature covering the room and the menu.
• Broadway World · 2014A feature on the Kobe beef offering and the wider menu.
• Woman Around Town · 2014Coverage of the Kobe, Wagyu and Prime beef pricing relative to the Midtown market.
• The Daily Meal · 2014A piece on the accessibility of the restaurant's authentic Kobe pricing.
• Examiner · 2014A fine-dining recommendation for the Midtown East area.
• Gayot · 2014Inclusion in the guide's annual list of the best New York steakhouses, and separately in its best wine lists roundup.
• The Paramus Post · 2014Coverage of the opening and the restaurant's stated aim of making rare cuts reachable.
• Johnny Prime Steaks · 2014A detailed steakhouse review from the long-running New York steak blog.
• Bloomberg · 2014A newsroom segment referencing the restaurant's Kobe beef programme.
• Kobe Beef Marketing & Distribution Promotion Association · 2014Formal listing by the Hyogo Prefecture association that certifies genuine Kobe beef.
• DNAinfo · 2014Reporting ahead of opening on the pricing structure planned for the Kobe beef section of the menu.

What the coverage got right

Read together, the reporting converges on three points that hold up well.

The certification claim was verifiable

Membership of the Kobe Beef Marketing & Distribution Promotion Association is a matter of record, not a marketing assertion, and several outlets checked it. That is why the story travelled to business desks.

The pricing was the actual news

More than one publication led on cost rather than quality. Selling certified Kobe by the ounce from a three-ounce minimum was a structural decision that put the beef within reach of an ordinary dinner budget, and food writers noticed that this was the genuinely novel part.

The wine list outperformed expectations

Gayot listed the restaurant in its best-wine-lists roundup as well as its steakhouse ranking — a signal that the cellar was doing more work than a beef-led room usually needs it to.