E3's beef comes straight from the E3 ranch in Fort Scott, Kansas. Photo courtesy of Jeff LaRoche.

Only two things money can’t buy: that’s true love and ranch-raised beef. (Apologies to songwriter Guy Clark, whose original lyrics focused on homegrown tomatoes).

The comparison is apt. Bite into a piece of all-natural, ranch-raised steak and see if you ever want to go back to the grocery store version, even if it is U.S.D.A. prime. It’s like taste-testing a hothouse tomato, side-by-side with one you just picked off the vine. 

“You can taste the difference,” says Brian Bailey, chef at Steamboat’s E3 Chophouse and its new sister restaurant, The Lounge. “The meat is phenomenal. Once you’ve tried it, it’s a no-brainer.”  

“What I’ve noticed over 20 years since farm-to-table became huge, and then ranch-to-table emerged, is that people don’t want the middleman,” Brian says. “They want a little better idea of what we’re serving.” 

In the case of E3 and The Lounge, “the beef goes from our farm to our table,” explains Jeff LaRoche, who owns the restaurant with his brother, Adam.

E3’s beef comes from the E3 Ranch in Fort Scott, Kansas. After Adam retired from a 12-year career in major league baseball, he and his wife, Jennifer, turned their full attention to the ranch, which has been in Jennifer’s family since it was founded in the 1930s. 

“Kansas is known for having the best cattle quality because of the soil nutrients and moisture,” Jeff says. “E3 raises super-healthy cattle. All natural, no antibiotics, no steroids.” 

The key to cooking this high-quality, well-marbled meat is simplicity. Let the meat tell the story. “The fat adds additional flavor. Sauce is not really a thing in Texas (where Brian is from). It’s all about the beef,” he says. 

Especially for thick cuts of beef, Brian recommends reverse searing. Season the meat with salt, pepper and garlic and cook it to 120° over low heat in a smoker or oven. Then add butter and herbs (thyme is good) to a very hot skillet and sear the steak on each side for about one minute for medium rare to medium.  The final step is to let the meat rest. Do NOT skip this step, Brian says. It’s the key to a juicy steak. 

Serve it with a little A1 sauce, a demi-glaze, a glass of red wine or bourbon and, voilà, you have a classic culinary masterpiece.

Of course, E3 and The Lounge feature a “baseball” cut, a tip of the hat to Adam’s career, as well as to Jeff, who pitched in the Colorado Rockies organization for two seasons. The 10-ounce cut looks like a baseball and presents like a filet, Brian says, with lots of marbling. 

The Lounge, located where Three Peaks Grill used to be, debuted its first full-length menu earlier this summer. It features pork chops and seafood, as well E3 beef. The restaurant has been extensively renovated and features Steamboat’s only commercial wood-burning grill. 

In addition to the local restaurants, E3 has a third restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee, which is co-owned by Adam and country singers Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan. 

All of the E3 restaurants donate a portion of their proceeds to support the E3 Foundation, a 501c-3 nonprofit organization that supports combat veterans, victims of human trafficking and provides crisis response to humanitarian emergencies throughout the world.