{"id":26451,"date":"2026-09-13T20:35:44","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T20:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/26451\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T20:35:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T20:35:44","slug":"champion-staten-island-restaurant-could-be-nycs-best-kept-steakhouse-secret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/26451\/","title":{"rendered":"Champion Staten Island restaurant could be NYC\u2019s best-kept steakhouse secret"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 When Raval Steakhouse opened on Minthorne Street nearly two years ago, owners Naz Ardolli and Ghent Zylfijah weren\u2019t looking to conquer New York City\u2019s steak scene. They simply wanted a neighborhood restaurant where Staten Islanders could enjoy a great steak without crossing a bridge. That vision paid off Wednesday night when the Tompkinsville steakhouse beat more than 25 competitors to win the Rare Steak Championship at Industry City in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

\"Raval\"The event was held at Industry City in Brooklyn, where chefs prepared and served their entries on-site for judges and attendees.(Courtesy of Naz Ardolli)<\/p>\n

Raval rose to the top of a field that included heavyweight steakhouses such as Del Frisco\u2019s, Mastro\u2019s and Strip House.<\/p>\n

That was the vision from the start.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s bring something to Staten Island instead of people having to go to the city or Brooklyn,\u201d Ardolli said when the restaurant debuted on Nov. 11, 2024.<\/p>\n

\"Raval\"The invite to compete came from Buckhead, a meat purveyor that distributes to Raval.(Courtesy of Naz Ardolli)<\/p>\n

The \u201cRare\u201d event brought together more than 25 of New York City\u2019s premier steakhouses for an evening of steak tastings, signature cocktails and live entertainment. Restaurants competed in traditional and creative steak categories, with attendees and judges casting votes for their favorites.<\/p>\n

The Tompkinsville restaurant was the only Staten Island entrant in the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were just happy that we were invited, to be honest with you,\u201d Ardolli said. \u201cNever thought we were going to win first place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The winning entry paired Raval\u2019s signature Cajun-rubbed steak with a German-style potato salad. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Cajun steak is our signature steak since we opened the restaurant,\u201d Ardolli said. \u201cWe\u2019ve never changed it. It\u2019s our own house-spiced Cajun rub.\u201d<\/p>\n

The restaurant updates roughly a third of its menu each season, but the steak has remained a constant.<\/p>\n

The potato salad was selected to balance the dish\u2019s bold flavors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe figured it\u2019s summertime, so let\u2019s do something light and fresh to balance the flavors,\u201d Ardolli said.<\/p>\n

The event drew a larger crowd than organizers anticipated, attracting about 2,000 attendees instead of the expected 1,200.<\/p>\n

Ardolli said. \u201cWe thought we were going to have steak and stuff left over. By the end of the night, we only had pretty much cocktail ingredients left.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Raval\"A bourbon-based cocktail made with spirits from Brooklyn’s Port Hamilton Distillery accompanied Raval Steakhouse’s award-winning steak entry at the Rare Steak Championship at Industry City in Brooklyn. The pairing earned recognition alongside the Tompkinsville restaurant’s first-place finish. (Courtesy of Raval Steakhouse)(Courtesy of Naz Ardolli)<\/p>\n

The steak wasn\u2019t the only standout. Raval also earned recognition for a cocktail crafted with bourbon from Brooklyn\u2019s Port Hamilton Distillery. To complement the Cajun-rubbed steak and German-style potato salad, the restaurant partnered with the local distiller to create a custom pairing, adding another layer to the award-winning presentation.<\/p>\n

The co-owner said the team entered the competition simply hoping to represent Staten Island well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were big corporate and big-name steakhouses there,\u201d he said. \u201cWe were just excited to be a part of it and have fun with it. We never thought we\u2019d get first place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Raval\"The Raval Steakhouse team celebrates its first-place finish at the Rare Steak Championship in Brooklyn. The Tompkinsville restaurant was the only Staten Island entrant in the competition. (Courtesy of Raval Steakhouse)(Courtesy of Naz Ardolli)<\/p>\n

For Ardolli, the victory carries special meaning because Raval never set out to be anything more than a neighborhood restaurant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t doing a traditional steakhouse. We weren\u2019t copying anybody. We were just doing our own thing,\u201d Ardolli said. That approach has paid off, earning praise from local celebrity chef and Advance Woman of Achievement Shaw-na\u00e9 Dixon in The New York Times and now a first-place finish at Rare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 When Raval Steakhouse opened on Minthorne Street nearly two years ago, owners Naz Ardolli and Ghent Zylfijah weren\u2019t looking to conquer New York City\u2019s steak scene. They simply wanted a neighborhood restaurant where Staten Islanders could enjoy a great steak without crossing a bridge. That vision paid off Wednesday night when<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[106,107,108,109,104,105],"class_list":["post-26451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-steakhouses","tag-steak-house","tag-steak-houses","tag-steak-restaurant","tag-steak-restaurants","tag-steakhouse","tag-steakhouses"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dnc\/117265650417561855","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/restaurants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}