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Florida Life - Dining in Florida
Ocala restaurants take it up a notch
A Wagyu Oasis
 Rancher Greg Mullen raises Wagyu cattle for his Artisinal Dish. [Photo: Jeffrey Camp] |
A mile west of town, in a red brick strip center with a Churchill Downs cupola, Artisinal Dish sits proudly beside the Horse & Hounds pub and equestrian shops, a thoroughbred in its own right.
Dish is stocked with wine, herbal teas and spices, gourmet grills, mung beans, sprouted quinoa and an array of exotic salts sold in bulk. The kitchen is wide open, exhibition-style, with a daily menu that starts with salads, sandwiches and burgers and adds pizzas at night.
But the star is the luscious Wagyu beef, more precious and fashionable than the organic chicken, goat cheeses, rapini and cremini elsewhere on the menu. Wagyu is the same breed as in Kobe, only these animals are raised on Ocala grass. And in this case the rancher is chef Greg Mullen, who owns Dish with Mary Gary.
You can sample the prime Wagyu ground in 8-ounce burgers on buns baked in-house or in a trio of sliders trimmed with the likes of crispy leeks and hot siracha (surprisingly good with a cucumber water). The big treat is bigger cuts to take home: Among prepared foods, Dish can rustle up cooked entrees like fire-roasted tri-tip, the favorite of California; on the fresh side, there's everything from short ribs to whole tenderloin. The latter is for big spenders only, $48 per pound, yet there's enough appetite for gourmet beef that Mullen is looking for more grazing land.
