Michael Jordan’s Steak House: A tale of two worlds

When seeing the plush new ilani Casino Resort from afar and wandering around its slot-packed game floor, one may often reflect on the uniqueness of its enormity in North County near La Center. 

Once inside, the seemingly endless rows of flashing machines and aroma of cigarette smoke can soon make one forget that when they walk out, they won’t be met with the bustling streets of Las Vegas or Atlantic City.  

Few places in the contrasting worlds are more apparent than at Michael Jordan’s Steak House, the casinos most highly publicized restaurant. 

The front section of the restaurant, with a gaping entrance just steps away from the game floor, takes on more of a sports-bar feel, with multiple TVs playing sports games behind the bar and the sounds and sights of the casino spilling into the steak house.

Also in the front section of the restaurant, suspended in the air, is a display of black-and-white Jordan photos. Each of the booths throughout the whole restaurant have abstract displays of black-and-white Jordan photos. 

The back of the restaurant, separated by a walk-in wine cabinet — the restaurant offers around 75 different wines — takes on a formal feel. 

Sounds and light from the bar and casino are replaced with soft music and dimmed lighting, along with the natural lighting for most of the day coming from the back of the restaurant which is almost entirely windowed.

Near these windows is where the contrasting worlds glare most vividly. Instead of flashing lights and speeding taxis, patrons are met with a view of scenic Ridgefield and Interstate 5 with a backdrop of Mount St. Helens. It offers a unique view of a volcano compared to Michael Jordan’s other three locations in New York, Chicago and Connecticut. 

For Executive Chef Cory Hoekstra, the rural location of this restaurant is what makes it special. Compared to the last 10 years as a chef at Disney World in Florida, Hoekstra said both their staff of around 50 and patrons they serve are more passionate about food, and doing it the right way. 

“With the Michael Jordan name, excellence comes with it,” he said.   

Assistant General Manager Brian Napiany, who has been in the casino business for over a decade, sees one specific sign that proves they’re doing it right; many of the patrons they serve tell him that they came to ilani to dine, not to gamble. Napiany said he’s been a part of restaurants that primarily served sad people who just lost money. 

On the evening The Reflector visited, Napiany’s experience with cheering up sad people was on full display. He worked the room, swapping jokes with patrons and bring out bottles of wine from time-to-time. Napiany seems to have mastered the fine art of being charismatic while not a nuisance while people eat. 

Food

The Reflector sampled five appetizers/sides during their visit. 

The Caesar Salad was crisp and instead of the typical creamy dressing one finds on most Caesar salads, a Caesar vinaigrette was used which added a tanginess. The croutons looked and tasted homemade. 

The “Deviled Bone Marrow” is ground short ribs mixed with bone marrow and house recipe and served with arugula salad. The short ribs and bone marrow are braised for eight hours. It’s heavily flavored with a pleasing lightness.

The “Mashed Potato Trio” is served in three separate small kettles, resembling a beer flight of tasters at a brewery. The three flavors are French onion, goat cheese with spring onion, and Dungeness crab with old bay butter. All three had a similar dense consistency and there was no apparent sign of overlap — each of the three were easily identifiable from the next. Given the potatoes three different options, it is an ideal appetizer for splitting with a group. 

Roasted asparagus was flavored with brown butter, tarragon and lemon. The tarragon gave the asparagus a distinct flavor of black licorice. It is served on the rawer side, giving each piece significant crunch. 

The “Double Smoked Bacon” was flavored with maple glaze. A serving includes four thickly cut and wide cuts of bacon. It requires a steak knife. In some parts, it had the consistency of a softer beef jerky, while in the fattier areas it was tender enough to cut with a fork. Hoekstra described it as “bacon candy.” 

The Reflector sampled two entrees.

The 16 ounce MJ’s Delmonico steak is a boneless ribeye. It was aged in its own juices for over a month then dry-aged for another month-and-a-half. It is dressed with ginger-balsamic and served with a side. Cuts of steak come from Linz Heritage near Chicago — whether or not this is a reflection of Jordan’s career with the Chicago Bulls is unknown. Like the Delmonico, each cut is aged in its own juices for over a month. The only other dry-aged steak is the Dry Aged Porterhouse. 

The Honey Glazed Salmon is prepared and served on a cedar plank and flavored with honey.  It has a slight sweetness and did not have a strong fish taste. The salmon comes with creamed corn dressed with bacon chunks.

The entree menu is not limited to steak or salmon. It also offers a variety of soups and salads, scallops, chicken pork chops and halibut. The steakhouse also has a lunch and dessert menu. 

The Reflector sampled one desert.

The 23 Layer Chocolate Cake — Michael Jordan’s jersey number was 23 for most his career — takes two days to make.  

It is best shared, given one piece is about six inches tall. Because of its thin layers, there are equal amounts of chocolate ganache and cake in each bite. 

The cake is dense but not extremely rich, making it dangerously easy to eat.