NEWPORT STEAKS
FLORENCE MEAT MARKET
GREENWICH VILLAGE NEW YORK
Daniel Bellino Zwicke & "GREENWICH VILLAGE NEWPORT STEAKS
Daniel Bellino-Zwicke, a well-known New York City cookbook author and Italian-American food writer, is one of the most passionate culinary champions of the Greenwich Village Newport Steak. Through his books (like Sunday Sauce) and his blog, Greenwich Village Italian, he has heavily documented the history, culture, and preparation of this hyper-local steak. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
What is a Newport Steak?
- The Cut: It is a small, tender steak cut from the tri-tip (the bottom sirloin) of the cow. [1, 2]
- The Origins: It was invented in 1947 by Jack Ubaldi, an Italian immigrant and the original owner of the legendary Florence Prime Meat Market at 5 Jones Street in Greenwich Village. [1, 2]
- The Name: Ubaldi wanted a catchy name to help sell this lesser-known, affordable cut to local neighborhood artists and bohemian residents. He named it the "Newport" because the curved shape of the cut resembled the Nike-like half-moon logo on a pack of Newport cigarettes. [1, 2]
- Alternative Names: While known strictly as a "Newport Steak" in New York's historic Italian butcher shops, the broader tri-tip cut is called a Santa Maria steak on the West Coast. [1, 2]
The Daniel Bellino Connection
Bellino-Zwicke treats the Newport Steak as a culinary symbol of a bygone Greenwich Village era. He frequently shares recipes that involve pan-searing the steaks to medium-rare in a hot skillet with butter, olive oil, and mushrooms, often pairing the meal with Italian wines like Barolo or Brunello. [1, 2, 3]
He historically sourced his meats from Florence Prime Meat Market and also highly recommends Pino's Prime Meat Market on Sullivan Street, another landmark neighborhood institution that masterfully cuts and trims the Newport.
Author Daniel Bellino Zwicke
CIPRIANI DOWNTOWN
NEW YORK CITY
The GREENWICH VILLAGE NEWPORT STEAK
The Perfect Newport Steak? What? I make it. Not everyone can. Number 1, you have to start with a Great Steak, a Newport Steak. A Steak not known to many. Well if you're fortunate to live in New York's Greenwich Village, you might know about them. Then again, you might not, cause just because you live in The Village, doesn't mean you know of this little thing of wonder, The Newport Steak. The Newport Steak is a thing of wonder, especially if you love Steak but don't want to shell out about $19.00 a piece or more to get one. That's uncooked from the butcher, a nice Prime Sirloin Steak that is. Now a Newport Steak on the other hand will cost you about $7.50 on the average, or roughly 2 1/2 times less than a Sirloin, and you do not give up on taste or quality. It's just as good. Maybe better.
A NEWPORT Ready for the PAN
.
.
Cooking My NEWPORT STEAKS
to PERFECTION
A Perfectly Cooked Newport Steak
"THE STEAK of GREENWICH VILLAGE"
Cooked by Cookbook Author Daniel Bellino Zwicke
Greenwich Village New York
As The ROLLING STONES
Play in The Background
SWEET !!!!
It is said that The Newport Steak was created by Jack Ubaldi, an Italian immigrant who owned a Butcher Shop in New York's heavily Italian Greenwich Village some time around 1947. The Newport Steak is actually most commonly known as Tri Tip Steak and comes from the Bottom Sirloin portion of a cow. The Tri Tip is not well known nor much in demand. Well not among the masses, but we "Smart Ones" know better. We always get equal or better quality of anything, but always pay less. Thus the case of a Tri-Tip or if as we call it in New York's Greenwich Village "The Newport Steak" In California, Californians know it as The Santa Maria Steak.
Anyway, Mr. Ubaldi, wanted to sell this lesser known cut to his customers, but didn't want to sell it as Tri Tip, he wanted a catchyer name. A name that would help sell this wonderful little steak, that was oh so tasty and cost far less than Sirloin, T-Bone, Porter House or Rib Steaks. He wanted a name that in the name itself would sell the steak. One day jack Ubaldi was looking at a pack of Newport Cigarettes and noticed that the logo of Newports was more or less the same shape of the Tri Tip Steaks that he cut. Right then and there Jack Ubaldi named his cut of Tri Tip
"The Newport Steak" the name caught on and they've been selling Newport Steaks at Florence Meat Market on Jones Street in Greenwich Village ever since. They're are a couple other spots in the area where you can get a Newport Steak. Ottomanelli's down the block at Bleecker and Joes Streets sells them, as well as Pino's Prime Meats on Sullivan Street, and is a place where I often pick up a Newport Steak or two, along with ones from the original Florence Meat Market.
Well, I picked up a couple the other night and cooked them for me and a friend. As usual, they came out perfectly. We had a Couple good bottles of wine as well, in a nice bottle of Villa Sesta Chianti and a fine Bordeaux. And if that wasn't good enough, and don't you think it should have been? We listened to The Rolling Stones while I cooked those "Tasty Steaks" some Roast Potatoes and Carrots. Those steaks, yes they were Perfect. Not many people can cook a Steak as Good as Me, "No Brag Just Fact." Yes it's Fact, I can cook a Steak Better than anyone of ever met or eaten a steak cooked by another, and that includes Steaks I've had at Sparks Steak House, Peter Luger and other places renowned for their steaks. If you knew me, you'd know I'm telling the truth. Ask anyone who has ever eaten a Steak that I've cook, "They tell you."
Any way, yes the Steaks were perfect. My mouth is watering now just thinking about them. Dam, I tell you, Those Newport Steaks were "So Dam Good" they were practically "Orgasmic" I kid you not. Ask my Pal Chris, or my Buddies Raoul or Jimmy S, they'll tell you. So we had The Perfect Steak, drank Chianti, and listened to The World's Greatest Rock Band of All-Time "The Rolling Stones." And yes Boys and Girls, Ladies and Gentlemen, "Sometimes Life Can Be Blissful." Yes It Can.
The Newport Steak
Is Cut From Tri-Tip Bottom Sirloin
A Couple Nice Newport Steaks
All Ready to Cook Up
IS THE NEWPORT STEAK GREENWICH VILLAGE'S OWN ?
Is that little thing of Beauty The Newport Steak Greenwich Villages Own? Yes Boys and Girls it is! I don't know if anyone has ever coined it that. I do know that those of us in Greenwich Village and New Yorkers in other parts of the city know about it and that it is of Greenwich Village. And you see, just because you live in Greenwich Village doesn't mean that you automatically know about it, not everyone does. We are few and small a group. An elite group who know of the wonders of our beloved Steak of Greenwich Village and Italian Greenwich Village at that.
Our beloved Newport Steak, those few of us who know about it, is a Greenwich Village Original created by an Italian Immigrant Butcher jack Ubaldi who created the now famous Newport Steak in the late 1940s when he had the idea of cutting the relatively unknown and inexpensive cut of beef known as the Bottom Sirloin in a different way and cut off a couple of Steaks from this piece of meat that was most often used as a roast in a larger piece or ground for Hamburgers, Meatloaf, or Meatballs. Today this cut of meat is normally known as Tri-Tip or Santa Maria Steak of Central California where it is grilled or roasted whole in one piece then sliced when serving. In France this cut is known as a Culotte which is popular in the Bistros of Paris and all over France.
So back to Jack Ubaldi who back in the 1940's invented what is now known to those "In The Know" as a Newport Steak. Jack cut the a piece from the Bottom Sirloin that was about 1 1/2" thick and had the shape of a Boomerang. When he saw a Newport Cigarette ad and noticed that his special cut of Steak looked like the Boomerang Logo of the Newport Cigarettes. Right then and there in his butcher shop on Jones Street in Greenwich Village, Jack named his special cut the Newport Steak. The rest is Culinary and Greenwich Village History, and Italian Greenwich Village History at that, as at that time Greenwich Village was heavily populated by Italians. The Village was filled with Bread Bakers like Zito's(now defunct) around the block on Bleeeker Street, Zapieri's, and Vesuvio as well as a host of other Bakeries, Italian Restaurants and Caffes like Caffe reggio and Caffe Dante, along with another fine Italian Butcher Shop in Pino's Prime Meats on Sullivan Street, in business since 1904. Raffetto's Pasta in Greenwich Village and Porto Rico Coffee are all over 100 Year Old Italian-American businesses as well.
So the Newport Steak. Created by Jack Obaldi, is cut from the Bottom Sirloin are about 1 1/2 inches thick, weigh about 14 ounces and cost about $7.50 a piece and are well worth it. Heck they're a bargain compared to a Prime Sirloin which are about triple the price of a Newport. And the Newport is every bit as good as a regular New York Cut Sirloin. No quality loss what so ever. In fact, after getting on to Newport's I prefer them to a Sirloin, as do the others in the know on the Newport.
WHERE To GET A NEWPORT STEAK
FLorence Meat Market "They Invented It" !!! ... Jones Street, Greenwich Village, New York
Pino's Prime Meats .... Sullivan Street, New York, NY
Ottomanelli's Meat market .... Corner of Bleecker and Jones Streets, down the block from Florence ... Greenwich Village, New York
PINO'S PRIME MEATS
ITALIAN BUTCHER SHOP
GREENWICH VILLAGE
Pictures of Al Pacino in The GODFATHER
and Cast of The Soprano's
in Window at Pino's
Author Daniel Bellino Zwicke
CIPRIANI DOWNTOWN
NEW YORK CITY
FLORENCE MEAT MARKET
INVENTOR of THE NEWPORT STEAK
Copyright Daniel Zwicke
GREENWICH VILLAGE, NEW YORK
HOW to COOK The PERFECT STEAK
RECIPE in GOT ANY KAHLUA ?
The BIG LEBOWSKI COOKBOOK
,
For Great Recipe and Instructions
On Cooking The Perfect Steak
THE BADASS COOKBOOK
COOK IT !!!
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