A few weeks ago, my wife and I went out for a very nice dinner. It was something we had not done in quite some time, at least without our kids. While perusing the menu I instinctively looked for the steaks. We were splurging anyway, so why not? Before I even read them all over, the memories of my last restaurant steak and my last steak made at home entered my mind. I immediately started looking for chicken and pasta dishes.

I'm sure the steaks at that restaurant are fantastic. I had no reason to believe they wouldn't be. However, the last restaurant steak I ate was as expensive as you would think one at a reputable establishment would be, but I was let down by it. My mouth had one flavor expectation and it received something very different.

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The last steak that I prepared for myself, a ten-ounce piece of loin from a mule deer buck I shot in Harding County last year, was an achievement of near perfection. I don't say that to brag, I definitely got lucky. I have experimented a lot with cooking meat in the last year since buying a pellet grill, and my last foray was done absolutely perfectly.

I began hunting again as an adult in 2012. Ever since then I've been slowly getting better at cooking wild game meat, predominantly venison. While most people who don't eat it regularly would not enjoy the strong flavor, I've grown to love it. Ever since a buddy gave me a couple of elk steaks two years ago, that was pretty much the end of my beefsteak infatuation. So reason number one I don't eat restaurant steaks is that I would generally prefer wild meat.

Having said that, I still like a good steak from a cow. I bought some steaks last summer with a Look's Meats gift card I received. I cooked them up the way I had been doing my venison, a reverse sear, and it was amazing. I won't pretend I am a better cook or chef than any professional, I am not. But lately, I generally like the steaks I make better than those in a restaurant. That's reason number two. I haven't had one in a long time that made me think I wasn't on the right track with meat. I could certainly be wrong in the future, I have a very open mind on that and I'm always learning. But for now, rather eat something in a restaurant that I don't know how to make.

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