Announcing The 2025 A Cut Above Winners
This spring, we partnered with Aussie Beef to highlight the versatility and quality of Australian grassfed beef. From koji-cured tenderloins and marrow-glazed short ribs to creative tartares, tatakis, and charcoal-grilled cuts, chefs across the country submitted original recipes that showcased the beef’s natural depth of flavor, lean texture, and clean finish.
Photo: Alexander Zeren
Join us in giving a big congratulations to Chef Emily Yuen of Lingo for her winning dish featuring Australian grassfed strip steak. For her win, she will receive a $5,000 cash prize.
As Yuen describes, “With a background in French fine dining, I was inspired to craft my own rendition of steak tartare, preserving traditional elements such as pickled mustard seeds and shallots. This version features warm roasted bone marrow served in the bone, topped with finely diced Australian grassfed strip steak and accompanied by nori sheets for assembling hand rolls—a modern, interactive twist on the classic dish. Having worked as a chef in Australia in my early twenties, I experienced firsthand the country’s dedication to high-quality beef production, reinforcing my confidence in using Australian beef.”
Photo: Caroline Fontenot
Photo: Cameron Whitman
We’d also like to give a big shout-out to runners-up Chef Justin Yu of Theodore Rex and Chef Julie Cortes of Hiraya, whose recipes earned them each $500.
Yu submitted claypot rice with Carolina gold rice, Australian grassfed skirt steak, green garlic, beef sung, fried capers, and egg yolk. “I created this dish to celebrate Australian grassfed beef: rendering the fat, transforming the lean meat into beef sung, and using the sung cooking liquid to braise more beef and build a rice broth. The nutty, gamey notes are then amplified with a savory-sweet marinade. It sounds simple—beef, rice, garlic, and herbs—but overdelivers on flavor and texture. It’s light enough to share as an opening dish yet hearty enough on its own. The leftovers only improve over time. The beef’s natural leanness and depth of flavor truly make this dish a showstopper,” says Yu.
Cortes submitted a tiyula itum with Australian grassfed strip steak, ramp salsa verde, coconut rice, burnt coconut, pickled coconut, and pickled chiles. As Cortes explains: “Inspired by summers on my grandparents’ coconut farm—where I learned that every part of the coconut is precious—this dish is my tribute to my grandparents and a nod to the Filipino spirit of resourcefulness. It’s a Tausug-inspired experience from the Southwest Islands of the Philippines, featuring burnt, sweet, and sour coconut. The burnt coconut becomes a deep, soulful sauce; the sweet is used to make a fragrant coconut rice; and young coconut meat is used for a tangy pickle. In a true celebration of whole-food cooking, I also decided to serve everything inside the coconut shell. I paired the coconut with an Australian grassfed strip steak for its incredible tenderness and robust flavor. It perfectly complements the dish’s bold tropical notes and pickled accents.”
