Ringside Steakhouse 70th Anniversary

Disclosure: I attended a media preview event that was complimentary, but I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.

Ringside Steakhouse is celebrating it’s 70th anniversary this month in June! This classic steakhouse has been an institution in Portland, and the Peterson family is now on its third generation of owning this award winning steak restaurant (RingSide has been recognized on America’s Top Ten Steakhouse Hall of Fame list and by DiRōNA for high quality service, and was awarded a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence in 2002).

To help celebrate, Ringside has a few specials planned for this month.

Trio of Beef

First, Ringside is offering a special menu all month in addition to their regular menu: a 3-Course Menu featuring a Trio of Beef for $70 per person. Part of the proceeds will benefit New Avenues For Youth. New Avenues is a great charity that provides a variety of outcome-based programs and services for homeless and at-risk youths with the goal of helping them to build life-skills, establish a stable living environment, and eventually become a self-sufficient adult.

I was graciously invited by Little Green Pickle and Ringside Steakhouse to a RingSide 70th Anniversary Media Preview. There, they had set up three steak stations in order to offer samplings of the special Trio of Beef.

Course 1: Oregon Bay Shrimp Salad with Butter lettuce, endive, celery leafs, red onions, green goddess dressing

Course 2: Trio of Certified Angus Beef Beef served with Chef’s accompaniments

1. Rib Eye Cap, char-broiled and sliced and served with jus. In case you are curious, the Rib Eye Cap is the top part of the ribeye which is a winning combination of all the flavor and juicy fat of a ribeye but with the tenderness of a tenderloin. It’s a very small cut, so you don’t usually see this available in a steakhouse and you’d have to ask for it especially cut by a butcher. This is quite a treasure. Yes, yes, a meat treasure that you want to serve simple like this to savor all the meatiness. I tell you, it’s a slight tragedy that I’m married to a vegetarian.
   
2. Braised Short Rib with Cabernet demi-glace. This was so melt in your mouth! So, I forgot to take a photo of the short rib at the station, but I was barely able to hold myself back to take the photo before devouring this. It was like meat butter, and a favorite by many of the guests at this event.
   
3. Tenderloin of Beef Oscar, a Petit Filet Mignon, Dungeness crab, asparagus and sauce béarnaise. This was the other favorite by many of the guests, as it’s a surf and turf in one! Even before it is topped with the crab, asparagus and sauce, look how beautiful it is.
   

Course 3: House Made Fromage Blanc Cheesecake with Strawberry balsamic jus

Optional wine pairing of 4 @ 3 oz. Pours – $40 for

• Rodney Strong Sauvignon Blanc
• Ken Wright Pinot Noir
• Nelms Road Cabernet Sauvignon
• Tyrus Evan Syrah

As part of the special media preview event, I had an opportunity to tour the behind the scenes at the Ringside Uptown location. RingSide has an on-site dry-aging room. First steaks arrive fresh with careful temperature and humidity controls the entire way, and then are cut in a special room that they can reduce and maintain to perfect controlled temperature conditions within 10 minutes (I dubbed it the “steak surgery room”).

Then, the cuts go to the aging room (I dub this “most organized and fully stocked meat locker I’ve ever seen, where’s the grill…”) where the steaks are aged for 28 days and hand cut. Since they only have seven decades of experience at being a steakhouse, they manage their inventory expertly to balance having what they need while managing the natural waste that is part of the process of dry aging.

This part of the little visit was narrated by Ringside Partner Craig Peterson, and Craig humbly said they are still trying to get the flavors perfect in their dry aging process… and that it will probably never be perfect. I have to say I beg to differ here because the steaks I sampled that evening had great depth of flavor. Also, it was all served with forks from the meat stations… no knives, because they weren’t necessary!

Part of the secret was revealed when we had a chance to peek at the kitchen and I saw the sous vide steaks in process (which was also next to some oysters on ice, and in the back some jumbo shrimp being prepped…). Ringside also knows that guests come to Ringside for special occasions, and they are serious about delivering a memorable experience for you, from food and drinks to impeccable service… and apparently are such the special occasion destination they’ve got to prep dessert dishes for the service (I guess more birthdays than anniversaries that night.)

Oh, just being served a chocolate truffle in the kitchen by Executive Chef Beau Carr as we followed Craig to check out the onion ring station…

Yes, I got to see the glory of their onion ring station. Yup, a dedicated onion ring station, as you would expect because the onion rings here are among the best in Portland, if not the best.

Besides being known for its high quality steaks, Ringside is also the home to one of the best and extensive wine lists in town. Jan Peterson took us down via the elevator to the temperature and humidity controlled wine cellar. Wow. It’s is a huge room with two rows of cases of wines 6 shelves high, grouped by region. Yeah, just almost 1000 wines to choose from, that’s all. You see how the shelves on are little rollers? It’s to make it easy to move the wine with less physical exertion, how clever!

Special Dinners and Reception

In addition, Ringside is doing two Chef’s Collabrative Winemakers Dinners. To start off each meal, the Peterson family and Executive Chef Beau Carr will give guests a behind-the-scenes tour of the dry aging meat locker and the climatized cellar that I got a sneak peak of above! You can see it with your own eyes instead of just my pictures!

Then, there are the chef collaboration dinners themselves. One was on June 1 with The Woodsman Tavern and Woodward Canyon Winery and there is another on June 8 with Toro Bravo and Ken Wright Cellars. The dinners are six courses with wine pairings, and tickets are $200 per person, all-inclusive, with a portion of proceeds benefiting New Avenues For Youth.

There is some amazing stuff on the menu, such as for the Woodsman/Woodward Dinner this past Sunday just oh a “Chef’s Snack Plate” that includes Whipped Kobe Fat, Dark Rolls, Charcuterie, romage, Foie Gras au Torchon, and Ramaki. Just snacks. One of the mains was a Petit Bone-In Filet Mignon, Dry Aged Pacific Rouge Wagyu Marrow Butter with Oregon White Truffle Potato Puree, Roasted Rapini, Ramps, and House Lardons.

For the upcoming diner with Toro Bravo/Ken Wright, this coming Sunday June 8, the snack includes Wagyu Beef Jerky & Slim Jim, Hush Puppies and Devils on Horseback, while mains include A-5 Wagyu Ribeye for one course and for another a Surf and Turf with Oregon Wagyu Consommé, Dungeness Crab, and Bone Marrow Toast.

Drooool.

Finally, Ringside is wrapping up June with a 70th Anniversary Reception on Sunday, June 29th. After a glass of champagne upon arrival, guests can enjoy libations and passed hors d’oeuvres created by the executive chefs of all three of the RingSide properties (both RingSide Steakhouse Uptown and Eastside, and RingSide Fish House). Ringside will also be featuring featuring 100% Wagyu from Oregon and Japanese A5 Kobe. Musical entertainment will be provided, and 50% of every ticket sold will be donated to New Avenues For Youth.

VIP Anniversary Reception 4:00 – 10:00 PM (so 2 hours of extra reception time!)
Tickets are $200 per person and includes a VIP preview from 4-6pm, featuring private tours of wine cellar and dry-aging room, a signed copy of Gerry Frank’s guide to Portland, celebrity bartenders and servers, passed hors d’oeuvres and carving stations featuring A5 Kobe, 100% Wagyu from Oregon, Ahi poke and Foie Gras. Hosted bar with cocktails, beer and wine will be served with complimentary pours of Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut.

Anniversary Celebration 6:00 – 10:00 PM
$100 per person and includes passed hors d’oeuvres, carving stations and complimentary beer, wine and house cocktails, no hosted bar.

You can buy tickets at the Ringside Anniversary page here if you’d like to attend the Winemaker Dinner or the 70th Anniversary Reception. For reservations to get the June special 3 course menu including Trio of Beef, you can go to either Ringside location:

Ringside Steakhouse Uptown

Address: 2165 W Burnside Portland, OR

Dinner:

• Mon. – Wed. 5pm to 11:30pm
• Thurs. – Sat. 5pm to 12am
• Sundays: 4pm to 11:30pm

Happy Hour:

• Mon. – Sat. 9:30 – close
• Sundays: 4pm – 5:30pm & 9:30 – close

Reservations online at OpenTable  or Phone: (503) 223-1513

Ringside Steakhouse Eastside

Address: 14021 E Glisan Portland, OR
Lunch:

• Monday – Friday 11:30 to 2:00 pm

Happy Hour::

• Monday – Friday 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm & 8:30pm – close
• Saturday 11:30am – 6:00pm & 8:30pm – close
• Sundays: 11:30am – close

Dinner:

• Monday – Thursday 4:30 pm to 10 pm
• Friday – Saturday 4:30 pm to 11 pm
• Sunday: 3 pm to 10 pm

Reservations online at OpenTable or Phone: (503) 255-0750

Happy 70th Birthday RingSide! You don’t look a day over aged 28 days…

Check out the fabulous photos by other fellow bloggers, as well as their perspectives on Ringside and the steaks!

• Urban Bliss Life: [Food Bliss] RingSide Steakhouse 70th Anniversary
• The Good Hearted Woman: RingSide Steakhouse Celebrates 70 Years

Disclosure: I attended a media preview event that was complimentary, but I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.