When creating a classic French menu, the decision of what cut of beef to use for steak frites takes on heightened importance. So chef Laurent Réa pondered several different possibilities for Brasserie Mon Chou Chou. He considered one of the traditional French options, a bavette (flank steak) or onglet (hanger steak) but, instead, decided on a corn-fed classic.
“I told (fellow co-founders) Jérôme (Sérot) and Philippe (Placé), the steak frites has to be a signature item,” Réa says. His choice: a gorgeously seared 12-ounce New York strip topped with a dollop of herbed butter. It’s an all-American cut of beef that elevates a French restaurant standard and plants the Art Nouveau décor firmly at home in South Texas.