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They were, and are now, stored on the ceiling and number over 90,000, the largest collection of such pipes in the world. According to tradition, when a member passed away, the stem of the pipe would be cracked. Every once in a while we like to take a look at the rich history of a restaurant that has survived for generations, outliving trends, critics, wars, Prohibition even. Accompanying this opulent creation is a side of escarole sautéed with lemon, garlic, and butter. The freshness of the escarole cuts through the richness of the young mutton, creating a harmonious balance that ensures each bite is a celebration of flavors and textures. Keens is a place where you can learn about the past, see rare artifacts, and get annoyed with parents for allowing their kids to watch YouTube in the middle of it all.
What Makes Keens Steakhouse's Legendary Mutton Chop So Iconic
Once a staple on tables across the nation, mutton and lamb have seen their popularity wane over the years, particularly since the end of World War Two. Historically cherished for their robust flavors, these meats adorned menus in various forms, from stews to chops. However, changing tastes, urbanization, and the rise of other protein sources led to a decline in their consumption. Just as you won’t find the T-Rex hanging out by the vending machines in the Museum of Natural History, you’ll have to work your way to the meat at Keens.
Keens Steakhouse's legacy is carved in clay
Wherever your table is in the two-floor dining room, you’ll be surrounded by countless antiques, like grandfather clocks, old guns, or a playbill that Abraham Lincoln was allegedly holding when he was shot. Take a second to scope out the ceiling, which is covered in 45,000 smoking pipes that belonged to former members of Keens’ Pipe Club, like Teddy Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, JP Morgan, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Albert Einstein. It’s almost impossible not to picture Babe in pinstripes and cleats ordering another round of whiskey and requesting his pipe.
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Keens soldiered on from the mid-century and began to fall into disrepair by the 60's. As the years wore on, Keens grew into a proper restaurant and a destination for group meals and a haunt of famed people of the day including JP Morgan, Teddy Roosevelt, and Babe Ruth. The artifacts that line the walls now have been collected from the beginning and number in the 500s. The pipes from the most famous patrons, including Ruth, Will Rogers, Adlai Stevenson, and Albert Einstein, are displayed in cases in the front. The restaurant was on the verge of closure, rocked hard by the economic crisis and long since faded and dated.
To truly appreciate the Legendary Mutton Chop, one must delve into the history of Keens Steakhouse itself. Established in the late 19th century, Keens has etched its name in the annals of New York City's culinary heritage. As you step into its hallowed halls, you're stepping into a time capsule — a journey to an era when dining was an art, a social ritual that brought people together. Jenkins tells Eater that they store filet mignon, lamb racks, and prime rib alongside the short loins and strip loins (which are aged for three weeks onsite) in their dry aging room. The room holds about 20,000 pounds of meat, more in the winter and less in the summer.
Keens Steakhouse Makes the Most Legendary Mutton Chops in NYC - Business Insider
Keens Steakhouse Makes the Most Legendary Mutton Chops in NYC.
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This tradition adds a touch of historical allure to the dining experience, connecting diners to a time when conversations flowed as freely as the wine and intertwined with billowing pipe smoke. In 1935, the restaurant sold its one millionth mutton chop, a signature dish that is still the star of the menu. According to longtime manager Bonnie Jenkins' account to Frank Bruni, after WWII, Americans tired of eating mutton and getting fresh, high quality meat became less and less possible. So at some unknown point in the late 40's, the restaurant switched to lamb "choosing a cut with a winged shape that mimicked the mutton chop of yore." Each Legendary Mutton Chop is carefully butchered and aged in-house from Colorado lamb. Since it's been harvested at a slightly older age than most supermarket lamb, it has a robust color and intense flavor profile.
Mutton Chop
You may be tempted by the comically large king’s cut, a 32-ounce prime rib straight out of a Ron Swanson fever dream, but you should focus your attention on the porterhouse and the mutton chop. The porterhouse isn’t drenched in butter like the one at Peter Luger—a Brooklyn institution that opened two years after Keens—so the funk from the dry-aging is front and center. We’d confidently put the sirloin portion of the Keens’ porterhouse into the ring with Luger’s filet in what would be the meatiest fight since Rocky and Ivan Drago. The porterhouse “for two” can and should be shared by four, but Keens’ Mona Lisa is the mutton chop.
How is the Legendary Mutton Chop made?
Though it isn't technically dry-aged, the saddle for the Legendary Mutton Chop spends some time in Keens' dry-aging room, lending it some further beefiness as it rests beside ribeyes and strips. Leaving nothing to waste, the trimmings from the saddle are skillfully combined with veal stock, shallots, and garlic, resulting in a luscious jus — finished with fresh mint — that envelops the chop in a rich embrace. In a world of culinary experimentation and boundary-pushing, Keens' menu may read to some like a relic, but to others, it is a time capsule of a bygone era in American dining when opulence reigned supreme. There are nods to modern palates such as fried calamari and blistered shishito peppers. Yet what stands out here isn't the innovation so much as those things that have stood the test of time. That isn't to say, though, that Keens rests on its laurels; no, it still puts culinary care and thought into crafting every single mutton chop.
It’s a two-pound cut of relatively old lamb that was a popular dish until modern breeding techniques phased it out. Keens is the only place in New York City still serving it, and it seems only fitting to enjoy this lost joy of a previous era in a room covered in grandfather clocks and smoking pipes. Keens Steakhouse's mutton chop harks back to a time when these flavors were celebrated. It invites us to reconsider our palates and embrace the depth of taste that mutton and lamb offer. As culinary trends cycle, there's a revival of interest in heritage ingredients, and the Legendary Mutton Chop stands as a testament to the enduring charm of classic flavors.
As you take in all the relics, a bow-tied server will come over and explain the different cuts of meat like a tour guide in the Denon Wing at The Louvre. Whichever ones you go with, don’t forget to order some appetizers and sides as well. The hash browns are like a salty, charred shell surrounding creamy mashed potatoes. There are massive slabs of smoky bacon, and the creamed spinach will make you want to apologize to your doctor before your next visit, in a good way.
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Restaurant Review: Keens Steakhouse, New York in the USA.
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This culinary masterpiece encapsulates the essence of authenticity and craftsmanship, inviting diners to savor the rich tapestry of tastes that history has to offer. The restaurant was first a part of the Lambs Club, the famed theater group (after which the Geoffrey Zakarian restaurant is named) that was founded originally in London, and Keens was manager. Keens opened independently in what was then the Theater District, Herald Square. One of Keens' most fascinating attractions is its collection of clay churchwarden pipes and its pipe club.
But George Schwarz, the owner of the clubby and successful One Fifth (where Keith McNally got his restaurant world start) and Elephant & Castle, came in and, with his artist wife Kiki Kogelnik, pulled the restaurant back from the brink. They put in new air conditioning and floors, raised the basement's ceiling, lengthened the bar, cleaned every artifact, and re-mounted the pipes on the ceiling. After soaking up the last of the steak juice with house bread, you’ll be saturated with history and cholesterol, but you can’t call it a night quite yet. Share the ice cream sundae that has a thick layer of melted fudge at the bottom.
It's a throwback to an era when dining was an experience, an ode to historical authenticity that resonates with modern palates. Picture a plate adorned with a generously sized chop, cooked to perfection — a masterpiece that is the embodiment of culinary craftsmanship. Contrary to its name, the Legendary Mutton Chop isn't technically mutton; it is a culinary alchemy, made from the tender saddle of lamb that is nearly on the cusp of being mutton, which is any sheep over 12 months in age. This choice ensures a succulent texture and a depth of flavor that elevates it beyond any ordinary cut. The story of the Legendary Mutton Chop is intricately linked to the shifting culinary landscape of America.
And, after you pay, escape the tourists taking pictures all over the dining room by heading to the casual bar room for a digestive aid in the form of a strong drink. Tourists are to be expected in museums, and at least at this one, you can take a sip of a classic martini whenever you feel the urge to yell at some kid watching YouTube. For $5 a year, Lambs Club members could keep their pipes, the long ones pictured, at the restaurant, where a pipe warden would keep an inventory and pipe boys would bring the pipes to each table.
So, even though it bills itself as a steakhouse, it’s really more like a museum. This Midtown spot has been around since 1885, and it fully embraces its history and lore, but not at the expense of the main attraction—the meat on your plate. In 1885 Keens Chophouse opened independently under the ownership of Albert Keen, by then a noted figure in the Herald Square Theatre District. Actors in full stage make-up hurried through the rear door to "fortify" themselves between acts at the neighboring Garrick Theatre. By the time Keens celebrated its 20th anniversary, you could glance into the Pipe Room and see the jovial congregations of producers, playwrights, publishers and newspaper men who frequented Keens.
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