Pittsburgh’s acclaimed restaurant Cure was inspected and issued a warning by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service last week after word got out that the restaurant served raw horse meat during a special dinner menu, according to the Associated Press.
Chef/owner Justin Severino has been described as a “meat virtuoso” for his expert charcuterie programs and knack for experimentation when it comes to meat. Nevertheless, horse isn’t typical of Cure’s menu. During a collaborative dinner on May 8 with chefs from Toronto-based restaurants Beast and Home of the Brave, Severino served patrons “Le Cheval” — a horse tartare with salt and vinegar chips, cured egg yolk, and black garlic mayo.
Posted by Cure on Monday, May 8, 2017
The dish did not sit well with animal welfare advocates who have launched a Change.org petition calling on Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf to make a public statement declaring the practice of serving horse meat illegal. It’s since received more than 1,600 signatures.
In the aftermath of the controversy, Severino issued a statement explaining the inclusion of horse on the menu:
“On Monday night we hosted a collaborative dinner with chefs from Canada, a Québécois feast. One of the courses included horse tartare, which is traditional Québécois. It was sourced from a sustainable horse farm in Alberta, Canada. This dish was available for one night only and it is not part of the Cure menu.”
Although it’s controversial, horses are slaughtered and consumed legally around the world. However, the sale of horse meat has been prohibited in the United States since 2006, when Congress passed a measure eliminating funding to the USDA for horse meat inspections. The amendment has since expired, but there is still no funding currently approved to inspect horse processing facilities. Still, according to the ASPCA, hundreds of thousands of American-raised horses make their way to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada.
During the inspection on May 10, the USDA confirmed that it found “no other horse products in commerce or on the menu of this restaurant.” Cure was “issued a Notice of Warning for illegal entry of horse meat into the United States,” an agency spokesperson tells the Post-Gazette.
Reached by Eater, Justin Severino declined to comment on the USDA’s warning or the ongoing controversy.
• USDA Warns Pittsburgh Restaurant That Served Horsemeat [AP via Beloit Daily]
• Restaurant Saddled With Warning After Serving Horsemeat [Post-Gazette]