LGO Hospitality has become the first restaurant group in Arizona, and one of the only restaurant groups in the nation, to receive its own certification from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for its beef.
LGO has always dedicated its culinary efforts to the freshest offerings: seafood is flown in to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on a daily basis; everything is made from scratch; and there are no freezers in any of the restaurants, as there is no need for preservation since everything is made fresh.
That’s the same approach LGO decided to take with its beef.
“In the same way we fly in our seafood, we take quality very seriously,” said LGO Hospitality President Adam Strecker. “We’re obsessed with controlling the process from the farm to when it hits your plate.”
The result is LGO Reserve, which only uses the highest quality beef in the USDA’s grading system – from the upper two-thirds of Angus Choice to Prime Angus Beef. The USDA has set 10 attributes in order for the product to be labeled LGO Reserve, including marbling, superior muscling and maturity.
LGO has gone beyond USDA’s grading to determine which meats are best by making sure aging and sizing are also prioritized. The beef comes directly from Black Angus cattle in the Midwest, where only three in 10 cattle meet LGO’s criteria and high standards.
Once the beef arrives at LGO’s restaurants, the teams butcher the meat in-house, cutting down the ribeye, striploins and filets. The cuts air out for at least 24 hours and are then cooked over a wood-fired grill, once again enhancing the flavor.
“LGO is leading the way for other restaurants and hospitality groups by creating our own label with the highest standards in the industry,” said Dom Ruggiero, executive chef of Chelsea’s Kitchen. “The LGO beef program is just another way for us to provide our guests with the best possible product we can buy.”
“I’m very excited and confident to be cooking and serving LGO Reserve,” said Zack Walters, executive chef of LGO Café, The Otis Bar and The Luggage Room in Pasadena. “Standards you can stand behind and showcase.”
The end result is a beef offering unlike any other in Arizona, with dishes such as LGO Reserve Short Rib Tacos and Prime Rib of Beef at Chelsea’s Kitchen, or the dry-aged New York Strip and Ribeye Steak at Buck & Rider. In addition to dining offerings, LGO Reserve cuts are also available for purchase at La Grande Orange Grocery.
“We put our name on it so you could count on what we were actually doing with the beef,” said Strecker. “We’re the only private labeled beef that’s attached to a restaurant in the entire state.”
