By Natalie Lozano Trimble
After almost two decades at SW Steakhouse in Las Vegas, Executive Chef Theodore Tom had the experience and vendor rapport to be choosy about his beef supplier when he took the helm at Cattlemen’s Steakhouse and the new, members-only Cattlemen’s Club in its basement.
Seeing the Four Sixes Ranch in Guthrie, Texas, impressed Tom. Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan is the principal owner of the ranch, along with business partners, David Glasser and Dan Schryer of SGS Hospitality; the three are also among the owners of both Cattlemen’s concepts.
Tom says the difference compared to more commercial operations was apparent. “You can tell when it’s raised and properly handled and treated very nicely and humanely,” he says. Today, all the beef he and his team serve comes from Four Sixes.
The Steakhouse and Club share an address but have different menus and styles, which both change seasonally. Upstairs is more high-class steakhouse than fine dining, and the basement is meant to fill in that gap with elevated options, like shellfish towers, caviar and wagyu steaks.
A 48-hour short rib made it onto the menu after Glasser and Sheridan described what they had on a trip and asked Tom to recreate it. “These guys know their food, and they want it to be absolutely perfect,” he says.
Club members can also participate in exclusive dinner pairings and curated experiences, but what the website doesn’t advertise is how Tom and his team are going above and beyond for those who have access to the basement’s privacy. When a member mentions, for example, having the best chicken parmesan elsewhere, Tom and his team take it as a challenge to impress that member with a better version on their next visit. “We want to be the best,” he says.
While they may be competitive, it’s a team effort in the kitchen. One of his first phone calls after being hired was to Michael Herres, now his Chef de Cuisine. The two worked together at SW Steakhouse for 10 to 12 years.
His own path to Executive Chef started in the music industry with a career on the technical side of tours, but the need for income consistency took him to a friend’s kitchen. On his first day, he was thrown into a true trial by fire: serving 400 “covers,” or guests, on the hot line.
With a love for cooking, an eagerness to learn and great mentors, he has found that culinary arts scratch a creative itch for him.
Both concepts serve entrees outside steak, from fish and scallops to vegetarian options.
Having been in fine dining for so long, Tom has learned to adapt recipes to be more accommodating to allergens, like the meatballs served in the Steakhouse which are gluten-free.
But the open fire grills, upstairs and downstairs, do give steaks the spotlight. “It’s kind of like a show,” Tom says. “The one secret ingredient, other than the beef, is the wood. We use post oak.”
A vendor that Tom found monitors the moisture content and cuts it to his specifications.
“You still get that smoky flavor,” Tom says, but it’s not as strong as mesquite.
A smokehouse is in the works on the patio, which replaced the parking lot. Guests will be able to order brisket along with late-night options, like a smash burger and wings, all available for purchase from the new two-sided bar. It opens up to the patio on the east and to North Main on the west, so passersby can order and savor the ambiance of live music on the new outdoor stage, which Tom says was a vision of Taylor’s.
There’s still plenty of street parking if you don’t mind walking, although renovations at neighboring H3 Ranch have the sidewalk south of Cattlemen’s closed temporarily. Paid parking lots and valet options are also plentiful in the Stockyards.
Cattlemen’s Steakhouse is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. To join Cattlemen’s Club, visit cattlemensclub.com.
Find the recipe for Cattlemen’s Braised Beef Short Ribs here.