Roka Akor Goes A Cut Above

Chicago isn't lacking in steakhouses or top-tier cuts of beef, but when the opportunity to sample the highest quality beef commercially available in the world presents itself, you take heed. Harnessing the powers of the beef gods in Japan, Roka Akor just received a limited supply of A5-11 grade Japanese Wagyu, aka some of the best kind of beef in the world or Chicago's best steak. The opportunity arose when chef Ce Bian was traveling through Japan, at which point he found a breed of cow he instinctively knew to be extremely rare, extremely valuable, and extremely delicious. An anayst later certified the Miyazaki Gyu beef as A5-11, which sounds like a type of car battery, but is vastly more delicious.

(Beef at Roka Akor)

A5 Wagyu is not something you see every day, not even in Japan, so the opportunity to share this esteemed steak with Chicagoans was one Bian could not pass up. It earns its 11 designation from a beef marbling standard, which in this case means the animal is richly marbled throughout, ensuring each cut and each bite is intensely, deeply flavorful.

Roka Akor is kind enough to share this beef bounty with us Chicagoans. The meat can currently be sampled as part of a special omakase menu for $180 per person, with two of the tasting dishes featuring the meat. Roka Akor is also offering the steak a la carte between $18 per ounce and $35 per ounce. It's recommended that guests limit their consumption to four ounces, due to the intensity of the meat. You wouldn't want to overdose on Wagyu now would you? The beef is available while supplies last.

- Matt Kirouac