Peter Luger Steak House

Every list has to start somewhere, and the Council started with the institution: Peter Luger's original Brooklyn location, the regular four at the table, and all the anticipation that comes with a first dinner in hallowed halls.

They arrived early and settled in at the bar, where it quickly became clear this is not a cocktail place. Beer and wine, fine. The cocktails were subpar, served in ordinary glasses over standard ice, with little sign that anyone behind the bar much cared. It was easy enough to shrug off. At a place like this, the steak is supposed to be the reason you came.

Once seated, the table met a server who was nice and knowledgeable, if brisk. That is part of the legend, and the legend sets its own expectations: at Luger, service is not really the point, and the food is meant to be so simple, classic and life-changing that everything else is a bonus. The steak had to live up to that.

The classics came first. The sizzling bacon was definitely awesome, a wedge salad filled out the order, and the table moved from cocktails to red wine. The sliced tomatoes and onions with the house sauce were another story; to Tree, they were raw tomato and raw onion that never earned their place in the lore. That was one diner's verdict, though: on the scorecards, Luger's sides as a whole fared better than its steak.

Then the main event. Rather than the obvious steak for four, the table split the order to try different things: a steak for three and a rib steak for one. It was good. It was not, for the money, the meat that knocks your socks off, and that was the whole premise. Luger's bargain is brisk service in exchange for a life-changing steak. On this night, the steak was just okay.

Dessert turned the night around. Schlag, the whipped cream the house spoons over everything, arrived in quantity, over an apple strudel and a pecan pie. It was awesome, and the highlight of the night.

The ending had its own ritual: gold coins at the end of the meal, and a bill paid in cash, which meant a lot of money on the table. A funny night, and a memorable start to the whole project, even if the steak was not the story.

The scorecards were blunt. Four Council members scored the dinner independently, and Peter Luger finishes at 74.15, fourth among the opening four restaurants on the Meat Hause Index. At the one steakhouse where the steak is supposed to be the entire point, Steak Experience earned 27.50 of 40 points, the lowest steak mark of the four.