Glorious Beef

September 1, 2021
A full-throated celebration of red meat from one of the nation's major purveyors. "My family has worked through wars," writes LaFrieda, "the Great Depression, the tumultuous years when New York City was dubbed Fear City, the fall of the Twin Towers, unprecedented hurricanes, and even a pandemic, and we're still going strong." That history began more than a century ago with a small butcher shop in Flatbush; now it involves scores of employees, a fleet of vehicles, and an extensive supply chain. LaFrieda oversaw much of this expansion, building on business opportunities by which he contacted producers and had bespoke organic beef raised just for him, then sold it at favorable rates to New York's best restaurants. The author offers a few interesting menus and a few useful tips--e.g., "Never pepper your steak before searing or grilling." But the true meat of his book is a study of how beef is brought from farm to table as well as an account of commercial success that deserves a place on any business school syllabus. The author emphasizes the importance of a diversified clientele: "If you have only one enormous account and that place happens to shut down, it could mean the end of your business." During the pandemic, LaFrieda had to cut his staff by more than 40%, a crushing loss. "It took years to build our army of 180 employees," he writes, "and my big high in life is to create jobs, not to take them away." Of particular interest are LaFrieda's arguments against meatless beef; though its purveyors claim a lower carbon footprint than farmed beef, he wonders whether they're taking into account the industrial oils that they use. He also reveals that it's cattle burps, not farts, that are introducing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and then only a tiny percentage. Vegans will blanch at some of LaFrieda's arguments and descriptions, but meat lovers will find plenty of protein here.

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September 27, 2021
Celebrity butcher Lafrieda (Meat) mixes autobiography with a tepid defense of the beef industry in this uneven work. In 1971, at age 10, he was already assisting his father by cutting meat at Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors’ Manhattan facility. After a stint in the military and some unhappy experiences as a Wall Street stockbroker, Lafrieda joined the family business in 1994, a time, he claims, when “no one really cared about where the meat came from.” He describes the business’s safety measures, arguing that “meat is one of the safest things you can buy now because of federal regulations,” and supports this with a look into the USDA’s rigorous grading process and the expansion of high-quality butchers. Though he maintains he’s “just seeking the truth,” he’s hasty to surmise whether plant-based burgers are healthier than all-natural beef: “I think it’s been openly proven and accepted that they’re not.” A closing section of recipes is useful, but some tips for consumers (“When you walk up to your butcher’s counter, look around. Is the counter and surrounding area clean?”) aren’t novel, and his grandiose statements about the virtues of eating meat (“ what made us the thinking and evolved humans we are”) tend to fall flat. This account is underdone. Agent: Johanna Castillo, Writers House.