The most expensive cheesesteak in Philly just got a makeover

Gimmick — or icon?

When Stephen Starr opened Barclay Prime on Rittenhouse Square in 2004, everyone was talking about the plush, non-steak house surroundings, the wooden case bearing a choice of six gorgeous steak knives, and the $100 cheesesteak.

Starr’s chief operating officer at the time, a New Yorker, came up with the idea, which was handed off to then-chef Todd Mark Miller, who hailed from Utah and had never eaten a cheesesteak in his life.

The creation was an example of more is more. Kobe beef? Check. Lobster? Check. Shaved black truffle, sauteed foie gras, melted Taleggio cheese? Check, check, and check. All this, plus caramelized onion and heirloom shaved tomato on a house-made brioche roll brushed with truffle butter and squirted with house-made mustard, and served with a split of Champagne.

David Letterman ate one on Late Night, and Inquirer critic Craig LaBan called it “as good as gimmicks come — a mouthful of firework flavors dimmed only by the sweetness of the brioche roll.”

But a hundred dollars! Who’d order one? Turns out, a lot of people. Management reports that the cheesesteak, which inflation forced the price first to $120 and then to $140, was and is a top-three seller.

Time marches on. So do chefs. Five years ago, chef Mark Twersky reworked the sandwich, subbing in Japanese A5 wagyu beef and a house-made truffled Whiz made of caciotta al tartufo and béchamel instead of the Taleggio.

Still, though, some of the parts were there in spirit, but it was not a Philly cheesesteak.

» READ MORE: Our favorite cheesesteaks (under $139.99, that is)

Twersky has gotten with the Philly program. The cheese is now Cooper Sharp, the darling of better cheesesteak shops everywhere. Twersky now pan-roasts the foie and blends it into brandy-laced veal sauce, which glazes the beef and cheese. It’s finished with a drizzle of fried onion-truffle cream and a generous grating of fresh black truffle. The roll is still baked and delivered by the vaunted bread bakery of Parc, Starr’s bistro up the block.

“The former was a decadent, luxurious version of a Philly cheesesteak,” Twersky said, “while the latter is a great Philly cheesesteak that’s decadent and luxurious.”

Subtle difference, but accurate.

And at $140 (including a 375-mL bottle of bubbly), it’s a relative bargain, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ inflation calculator. That hundred bucks in 2004 is equivalent to $162 now.

I’d describe the new version as a flavor bomb of beefy lusciousness, truffle-punched richness, and cheesy creaminess tucked inside an ethereally airy roll.

In other cheesesteak news:

Jim’s South Street Steaks is well on its way to reopening after that July 2022 fire that also shuttered Eye’s Gallery next door. Owner Ken Silver said he’s now aiming for February. The new Jim’s will occupy both its old location at 400 South St. and the gallery next door.

Pat’s King of Steaks will operate out of a 22-foot food truck starting in late December during extensive renovations to its century-old building at the crossroads of Ninth Street, Passyunk Avenue, and Wharton Street.