An Immigrant’s American Dream: How to Open a Steakhouse in New York and Welcome Donald Trump There
Nikolla Vulaj is the man with big hands able of producing the most exquisite desserts and a severe look with the notes of musing in it. Vulaj emigrated from Montenegro and succeeded in conquering New York and grabbing the notorious American dream by its tail. He set up his restaurant business from scratch, and his steaks are so good people from the entire state come to eat them. Among the fans of Vulaj’s steaks are actor Bill Murray, writer James Patterson, singer Vanessa Williams, and the President of the Unites States Donald Trump.
Nikolla Vulaj. Photo: flamessteakhouse.com
No meat — no eat
“My mom believes if there’s no meat on the table, there’s nothing to eat actually,” says Vulaj (pronounced as woo-ladge) laughing as he remembers his childhood in Montenegro. “Like most Europeans, I grew up eating meat and potatoes, our traditional food.” That is where Vulaj’s passion for steaks came from, he says. Nikolla has been creating culinary masterpieces for 40 years now. He arrived in the U.S. from Montenegro back in 1972, still a teenager, and climbed all the way from a butcher to a cook in the best restaurants in America, side by side with chefs from Italy and France.
Having learned from the masters, Nikolla turned a chef himself, and then opened a restaurant on Manhattan together with his partners. Food critics were enthusiastic about the new venue, and the profits went up. After this positive experience, Vulaj resolved to open his own steakhouse in Westchester. It was 1992, and the chef remembers the venue with great affection — he put his heart into it. “This steakhouse had become extremely successful. Numerous magazines and newspapers published reports about it, and they all were positive. I think I have always differed from competitors because I didn’t see my restaurant just as a business; for me it’s always been a place where I can make my clients happy,” Nikolla says.
Dinner for president
Current U.S. president had found his happiness in Nikolla’s place many times. Donald Trump was a regular visitor in Vulaj’s steak restaurant in Westchester, both with his family and alone.
“He loved our steaks. I am very proud of it, but not because he’s a president but because I know that we offer excellent quality, top class. When he visited, we talked many times — I couldn’t know he would become a president. But this is America, anything can happen here,” Nikolla says.
He told me about the president’s cravings: Trump’s favorite was porterhouse steak (a large cut of beef meat from the short loin), shrimp cocktail, potatoes and vegetables. “He would always drink mineral water, he never drank alcohol. And he would compliment my steak and say it was the best steak he ever had in the entire country. We talked about business, sometimes politics, golf courses he was building nearby, about family and family values that were extremely important for him,” Nikolla says.
Photo: flamessteakhouse.com
Besides Trump, Vulaj’s regular visitors included writer James Patterson, singer Vanessa Williams, actor Bill Murray, then-governor of New York George Pataki, and New York politician Jeanine Pirro.
However, Nikolla was forced to retire from business for a while and close his pet project over an illness. But given the opportunity, he returned to doing what he loved. Recently, Vulaj opened his new restaurant, Flames Steak House, in Elmsford, New York metropolitan area. “I wanted people coming to the restaurant as to my home. We always greet our guests with a big smile, ask them about their day, talk to them — it’s extremely important,” Nikolla says.
Photo: flamessteakhouse.com
Restaurant critics note that the new venue’s success is about Nikolla returning to business with renewed vigor and investing it in his new steakhouse. The chef himself says he wanted to open a steakhouse where everyone would feel like at home but can order a steak they would never cook themselves at their own place.
Photo: flamessteakhouse.com
The secret of the magical steak
Nikolla is really able to cook a very special steak. The secret is the quality of the meat. He uses superior quality, prime meat only. Surprisingly, but just 2 percent of all meat in the U.S. is qualified prime meat — in the country where you can buy pretty much anything. “We only get this sort of meat — this is why our steaks are so different from most restaurants’. Plus, we possess own technologies — taking the best beef and aging it as a whole piece in special fridges for about five to six weeks,” Nikolla says proudly.
The dry aged technology is expensive, but it allows bringing special taste to dishes. During the process, beef loses its excess moisture; natural processes destroy connective tissue of the muscles, thus making the marble meat much tenderer. Only the best sorts of beef can undergo it, since high level of meat ‘marbleness’ is an important prerequisite for dry aging.
Photo: flamessteakhouse.com
“Many people who visit us cannot understand how come the steaks are so juicy. They are juicy because this is prime quality meat — it has some fat that makes it juicy. When people cook their own steaks from meat with no fat at all, the steaks are dry,” the chef explains. “Many other steakhouses age their meat over 21 days, but our method is much better. We age it longer — this puts more costs on the restaurant, but is better for our visitors.”
Not by meat alone
This insistence on the food quality is the foundation of how Nikolla’s restaurant operates. The team knows how to maintain reputation — they only use fresh and prime quality food. “We get seafood delivered by plane from New England, and fish from Mediterranean Sea. We really buy the best seafood possible, we spend lots on money on it, but this is something I don’t have to worry about because I am certain about the quality,” Nikolla says.
Photo: flamessteakhouse.com
Photo: flamessteakhouse.com
He believes this is the reason for his business’ success. Whatever a client chooses — a steak, fish, seafood, a burger, pasta, a pounded steak, veal medallions or vegetarian dishes — they will be cooked top-class.
Photo: flamessteakhouse.com
Photo: flamessteakhouse.com
“We care much about what our clients think, and pay attention to the tiniest details. Our two core principles are: we buy only top quality food, and we hire only top class chefs, who transform that food into culinary masterpieces. We love offering our clients something different from what they can order in other restaurants. This makes me proud and happy,” Nikolla says smiling.
Photo: flamessteakhouse.com
A piece of advice for newly arrived immigrants
Vulaj is willing to share his success recipe. “There are many reasons why I succeeded in restaurant business. I was decisive, and I was ready to work hard. I became convinced that one should always buy ingredients of the highest quality,” he says.
Vulaj believes that immigrants have equal opportunities to achieve success as Americans. Language is the only obstacle, but one can overcome it. In the rest of it, Nikolla says, Europeans crave success more than Americans do.
“My piece of advice to an immigrant who’s at the beginning of his or her path here, in the United States, is ‘Don’t be afraid to work — it will pay off in the long run.’ Do your best, and always do it even better. Don’t be afraid to try new things. You have to be extremely open to do that. Whatever you invest in your education and training will pay off, especially in this country. You have huge opportunities for achieving your goals —just believe in yourself!”
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Flames Steakhouse
Located at: 121 E Main St, Elmsford, NY 10523
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