Nestled in the rolling Flint Hills is a ranch with some of the most prized cattle in the world. Dave Dreiling, owner of Booth Creek Wagyu markets, raises wagyu cattle in his recently built farm-to-fork operation and sells it in his four Kansas-based retail shops. Dreiling’s most recent store just opened in Prairie Village (5328 W. 95th St., Prairie Village).
Traditionally, wagyu beef comes from a breed of cattle raised in Japan. Most wagyu you try in America is, well, American wagyu—a crossbreed of the highly prized Japanese cattle with Black Angus. The American version is still insanely tender and marbled with tons of beautiful fat, but Japanese wagyu genetics reign supreme in the culinary world.
Booth Creek Wagyu offers both. The ranching operation also uses innovative technology that analyzes each beef carcass for an exact percentage of fat marbling and labels each cut with this specification. Dreiling wants shopping for wagyu to be similar to picking out a bottle of wine or whiskey. What flavor profile are you looking for? Percentages range anywhere from 20 to 40 percent marbling. However, if you want to be a purist about it, anything labeled “BC40” comes from full-blood Japanese wagyu. Head to any Booth Creek Wagyu store (boothcreekwagyu.com) and you’ll discover refrigerated cases lined with more beef cuts than you can imagine. Dreiling recommends the Delmonico, a cut most people aren’t familiar with, for its lower price point but great fat content.
