The Dish: Swagyu chef expands new butcher shop brand to Poway - The San Diego Union-Tribune

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This time last year, Imperial Beach chef Steve Brown was running an Imperial Beach prix-fixe steakhouse and organizing a culinary tour where he planned to host $200 A5 Wagyu beef dinners in 11 European countries. Then the pandemic hit and shut down restaurants worldwide.

Faced with zero income and $10,000 in Wagyu inventory in the meat locker at his Cosecha SD headquarters, Brown took a tip from a fellow chef and used his Instagram account to sell all the meat in individual steak portions and take-home meal kits. Within 24 hours, he’d not only sold out, he’d collected another $20,000 in pre-orders.

That was the beginning of Swagyu Chop Shop, Brown’s new chain of gourmet beef markets. The first Swagyu store opened in late August in the former Deb’s Cookie Jar cafe at 1002 Palm Ave. in Imperial Beach. The second, a long-term pop-up shop at Isabel’s Cantina at 966 Felspar St. in Pacific Beach, opened a few months later. And the third opened Friday at 14149 Twin Peaks Road in Poway.

A heavily marbled Australian wagyu rib-eye roast at Swagyu Chop shop.

(Courtesy photo)

The shops sell four varieties of Wagyu beef from the U.S., Japan and Australia, as well as Cosecha’s own signature brand of Arrington Ranch Wagyu from Montana. Customers can buy individual portions, like a 1-pound A5 Takamori Drunken Wagyu Yamaguchi steak for $190, an 18-ounce Jack’s Creek Wagyu Australia rib-eye steak for $75 and an 8-ounce American/Japanese blend Wagyu burger patty for $18. There are also custom meat packages and dinner kits that come with seasonings and side dishes.

Brown, 40, said the butcher shop concept has succeeded beyond his expectations, with many customers driving in from outside San Diego County to pick up orders. He said the key to making the business a success has been the in-shop training his staff gives all customers so they don’t go home and burn their pricey steaks.

Once onsite dining is allowed again, Brown said he will begin serving prix-fixe Wagyu dinners at all three Swagyu locations. Next to come will be Swagyu Burgers, a chain of quick-service outlets selling Wagyu burgers with an optional side of “Nitro” fries, which are potato planks dipped in liquid nitrogen before they’re fried to give them an ultra-crispy texture. The first Swagyu Burgers will open in the same Poway strip mall as the new butcher shop in about two months.

Brown said he plans to eventually open 50 Swagyu burger stores and 20 chop shops. The next shops to open will be in North Park and coastal North County, sometime in the next six months.

Over the years, Brown has launched a number of local restaurant and bar concepts that fell through, including restaurant concepts in Chula Vista, the Gaslamp Quarter and Imperial Beach and a Barrio Logan bar. But he said the way to succeed in the turbulent industry is to never give up and keep coming up with new ideas.

“After 25 years in this industry, we’re finally exploding in the hardest time for our industry in history. It’s pretty remarkable,” he said.

For details, visit chefstevebrown.com.

Opening news

• Samburgers, the ghost kitchen concept launched this past fall by Sam “The Cooking Guy” Zien and Grain & Grit Collective, will soon open its first brick-and-mortar location inside Grain & Grit’s Little Italy Food Hall at 550 W. Date St. Samburgers will take over the station now occupied by Zien’s Not Not Tacos, which is moving to the station formerly occupied by now-closed Semola Artistan Pasta. Visit littleitalyfoodhall.com.
• San Diego-based Luna Grill Mediterranean Kitchen will open a new location Jan. 25 at 9828 Mission Gorge Road in Santee. To promote the new location, diners who order takeout meals online Jan. 25-28 will be entered to win a giveaway for free food for a year. Visit lunagrill.com.
• Sky Deck, the long-in-the-works gourmet dining hall planned for the second floor of the Del Mar Highlands Town Center in Carmel Valley, has postponed its opening again, due to the pandemic. The hall is now scheduled to open May 5, barring public health orders. Visit delmarhighlandstowncenter.com.

Pam Kragen writes about restaurants for The San Diego Union-Tribune. Email her at pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com.

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The Dish: Swagyu chef expands new butcher shop brand to Poway - The San Diego Union-Tribune
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