Meatman

What a week! First, the world's best oyster. Now, the world's best piece of meat, called Ohmi (sometimes spelled Omi) Gyu, abbreviated Omigod (Just kidding, sort of.)

Superlatives are open to debate, of course, and taste is subjective, but Cornichon's tastebuds have spoken. Let us pray.

By now, we know about Wagyu, literally "Japanese beef." Not to put too fine a point on it, there's an American wagyu as well. Coddled cattle, well-fed, well-housed, regularly massaged, soothed by classical music, as pampered as lapdogs.

Comes now a third Gyu, a subset of Wagyu, raised by farmers in the ancient Omi region, the modern-day Shiga prefecture on Honshu island 300 miles southwest of Tokyo, site of Lake Biwa, Japan's largest, whose mineral-rich waters nourish the cattle. Only six head a month from two particularly conscientious ranches, Sawai and Takara, are licensed for export. Only boneless meat that meets the Japanese A5 standard for color and marbling is imported, to be served by half a dozen top steakhouses in the US. In the Pacific Northwest, only one: Metropolitan Grill.

Which brings us to exec chef Eric Hellner, a 21-year-veteran of Consolidated Restaurants, now on his third stint at the Met. He sears the 6-ounce ohmigyu tenderloin, seasoned with only salt and pepper, on a cast-iron griddle, brings its internal temperature up slowly to keep the fat unctuous. Served with a drizzle of veal demi-glace and a few yukon gold potatoes poached in garlic butter, it's $100. (You can also get raw Ohmi as a carpaccio appetizer for $20.) Don't listen to people who say it's not worth it, the best steakhouse meat is never cheap.

Thanks to elevated glutamate levels, not to mention inosinic and oleic acids, Ohmi provides an umami experience like no other. It's like cutting into a perfectly seared lobe of foie gras, redolent of meaty char, rich blood and exquisite liver. If you pay attention to taste, you will remember this for the rest of your life.

For this blessing, for this food, let us give thanks, amen.

Metropolitan Grill, 820 2nd Avenue, Seattle, 206-624-3287