It’s called Kobe, but it has nothing to do with Lakers

An exclusive Japanese beef has come to the mainland and is popping up in the most American of dining institutions: the diner.

Officials with Newport Beach-based Ruby’s Diner have announced plans to begin selling Kobe-style burgers for $10 a piece. Considered to be one of the highest grades of meat in the world, Kobe beef is often seen as the ultimate beef delicacy, reserved for celebrities and culinary sophisticates willing to shell out $40 for a hamburger.

The high price is as much about mystique as it is about taste. Kobe beef (pronounced KO-bay) comes from the fabled Wagyu cow lineage of Kobe, Japan.

Legend says ranchers massage the animals with sake and feed them beer to keep them relaxed and tender.

In recent years, the Wagyu cow has been brought to the United States and crossbred with the American angus to make a product known as “Kobe-style beef” that is much cheaper than conventional Kobe meats.

Ruby’s Restaurant executive Dave Locke said the meat has a higher quality rating than premium-rated meats like filet mignon.

The result is a beef with a well-marbled texture and higher percentage of unsaturated fat that gives the burger a juicy, tender taste.

Kobe beef supplier Jim Asher of Sterling Pacific Meat Co. said fast food restaurants like Carl’s Jr. and Burger King are selling specialty burgers made out of higher-grade angus meats, while major chains like the Cheesecake Factory are jumping on the Kobe bandwagon.

“Fast food has done that because they know the menu value of premium, and now [Ruby’s and Cheesecake Factory] are just taking it a step further,” he said.

Ruby’s officials are hoping the mystique of the burger draws in clientele who’ve wanted to try the burger but haven’t been willing to shell out a lot of money for the steak.

“People in general love going out to a place and learning something new about food,” he said.

Yet even with its allure, Locke said the typical Ruby’s customer isn’t necessarily keen on Kobe beef, and Locke and others have implemented a program to train wait staff to market the mystery meat

“A lot of people don’t call it ‘KO-bay’, they call it ‘KO-bee’ and think we have some connection with the Lakers,” he said.

Locke said Ruby’s 38 locations sell about 6,000 Kobe-style burgers a week, and other area restaurateurs said they’ve had success with the premium steak.

Dan Marcheano of the Arches restaurant said he was the first to sell Kobe beef in Newport Beach in 1988, charging $125 for a six-ounce steak.

He said he stopped selling the steaks years ago but wishes Ruby’s is successful with its latest endeavor.

“It’s not a bad deal for the consumers ? you take a shot and you make it up along the way,” he said. “We’re all on the same boat, trying to drag someone into the restaurant.”