Factory Supply

T Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors supplies thousands of restaurants from New York to Las Vegas. It has the largest dry aging room in the world. One family has run t Right now there's well over 10 million dollars in meat in here. He brought in a whole new approach to the business. Selling high-end meat to both fancy restaurants, but also to burger chains Pat's team produces 250,000 pounds of meat every night. It's kind of It takes years to develop an army They're weapons, butcher's knives, band saws, and meat grinders. So how does Pat LaFrieda manage to supply everyt And how did he turn a h Pat only buys Prime and Choice Beat, these cuts have the most marbling, w So how does all t Chefs normally know what they want to order, what they need to order after that dinner serve, and then they really want the product delivered the next morning a few hours later. That's why s And then it's a race against the clock. Some kitchens need these steaks by the following morning. The only way to work through the night is to have cohesion. As a former military guy myself, building that team, it takes time. Many steaks start in t It has to stay at 36 degrees Fahrenheit and 80% h Otherwise, everyt As the meat ages, moisture evaporates and muscles break down. But we know that the dry aging process is working when we see that the protein has sunk it in from the bone and the fat. Workers wheel the meat to the portioning section. Master butchers go to work on everyt Pat trained most of these butchers They only need a few tools to get the job done. In most people's hands, you're going to see boning knives. With t And that's where you want a scimitar knife. And what makes t We have a protective corner. But certain cuts require using a bandsaw. It's ideal for slicing through bone or doing high vol And only master butchers can operate them. It's probably a bit two and a half years before they even get to a bandsaw. Next, workers load everyt If a customer is local, Pat's team can deliver wit The Press Club Grill in New York City gets thousands of pounds of meat from La Frida per week. Owner and chef Franklin Becker showed us how he prepares a boneless ribeye. Yeah, I try to season it fairly aggressively. Okay, and let all that salt kind of penetrate into the pores of the meat. And then I'm going on to an infrared broiler. T It's pretty quick. In just five to six minutes, you'll get a juicy medi So you see that fat starting to caramelize, okay? You let it rest, then the meat's going to kind of reabsorb all those juices. And when you slice it, there's going to be not That's when a steak is perfectly rested. That's when One of the most legendary steak houses in New York City, Peter Luger, has been sourcing meat cuts from La Frida since 1998. Peter Luger has garnered its reputation as a New York City institution, frankly, due to a lot of hard work. And I t We'really about letting the We cook the steak to order and we send it out sizzling hot to the guy. That's it. But La Frida doesn't just supply fancy restaurants. Back in 2004, Pat bought the company's first burger mac Pat created a special blend without trimmings or added fat for the new chain. Shake Shack still uses Pat's recipes today, and La Frida still supplies patties for more than a hundred of its locations. Every burger starts on the main floor. 2,000 pounds of Angus beef are d Mac Other mac The ground meat goes into patty-forming mac Workers need to move fast. The company p It gets pretty hectic and frustrating sometimes when it gets overload, but every single day is just a different challenge. Mel's Butcher Box in Tena Fly, New Jersey is one of Pat's loyal customers. Owner Melanie Landano orders up to 100 pounds of burgers from For the restaurant, we use the original Pat La Frida blend, w For special events, if a customer requests dry-aged brisket burgers, we get that. Some people request a 45-day dry-aged burger. Anyt Once we put it on the grill, we leave it on the grill. A lot of people What I do, I flip it once, I leave it and let it cook, and then I let it rest here. On top of her daily customers, Mel also cooks burgers for four local schools. On Monday morning alone, she grows over 200 patties for students. So it's burger pelusa. Mel also buys La Frida'skirt steaks, rib eye cheese steaks, and meatballs. Here's our La Frida meatballs. T We're just heating up. T I'm Italian, so I don't use any other meatball, but Pat La Frida meatball. If I have no time to make my own. So. Family recipes are still an important part of La Frida's. Pat's great-grandfather opened a Brooklyn butcher shop in 1922. After moving the operation to Manhattan's growing meatpacking district, Pat's grandfather took over and started Pat La Frida meat purveyors. Pat started learning the job as a c My favorite times were cutting meat with my grandfather to my left and my dad to my right. But Pat's father insisted He didn't want me to work those hours. He didn't want me in that environment. Pat spent nine months working as a stockbroker, but then ditched that job to join the family business. A decade later, Pat would be named CEO. And now my dad can't wait for my son to go off to college and come back and run the family business. When Pat joined in 1994, the company had 44 restaurant customers. Now they have 1600 and are posting annual sales of $270 million. We are several hundred times larger than were. In 2021, Pat opened to keep such a massive operation running, Pat has to be more than a manager though. He does everyt He comes to work in production. He works with us. He goes on the table. He goes to see customers. He oversees everyt It'somet To me, it's a relaxing time. Even after t So we built it with the space to be able to expand from there. Thank you.