h CHOPHOUSE Kalamazoo Michigan

Why h CHOPHOUSE made the SteakMap list

It is inside a castle, the chef owns the castle, and the New York strip is wet-aged — which almost nobody in Michigan bothers to say out loud on a menu.

h CHOPHOUSE occupies Henderson Castle, the Queen Anne mansion of Lake Superior sandstone and brick that Frank Henderson finished in 1895 on the hill above downtown Kalamazoo, now a boutique hotel. Master Chef François Moyet is both the owner and the chef, and the kitchen is French-American rather than American chophouse.

Wet-aged, and why that matters

The Manicured New York Strip is described on the menu as a tender wet-aged steak. Wet-aging holds beef in vacuum packaging so it tenderizes without losing moisture — the result is juicier and cleaner tasting than dry-aged, without the nutty funk. Most restaurants serve wet-aged beef and never mention it, because dry-aging is the fashionable word. Naming it is a small act of honesty.

The restaurant describes its wider program as offering both dry-aged and wet-aged beef, with prime beef sourced from selected farms including Gibson Family Farms in Scotts, Michigan alongside western ranches, and each steak seared on cast iron then finished in the oven.

The board

The cuts are French in construction. Côte de Boeuf for two is a bone-in ribeye, grilled and then slowly roasted. Chateaubriand is tenderloin grilled with foie gras and truffle. Beef Wellington Picasso is filet mignon baked in French puff pastry with mushrooms — a dish most kitchens have given up on because it is genuinely hard to execute.

Sauces are Bordelaise, au poivre or chimichurri for $8.

There is also a 17-course chef’s tasting menu. Allow at least three hours for it.

Menu prices

From the h CHOPHOUSE menu: Côte de Boeuf for two $149, Chateaubriand $98, Beef Wellington Picasso $79, Manicured New York Strip $69, sauce upgrades $8.

See every wet-aged steakhouse in Michigan, or read the guide to the best steakhouses in Michigan.