Several weeks ago, I wrote that with the opening of a new Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, there are now four high-end steakhouses all within a block of each other (Spencer's, Ruth's Chris, Donovan's and Christopher's).

Now Gastronomy Inc. has raised the stakes (or steaks) by serving Certified Angus Beef Natural at its Market Street and Oyster Bar restaurants. They are the only Utah restaurants licensed to serve this particular brand of all-natural beef.

The beef is raised on a vegetarian diet on ranches and family farms, free of antibiotics and added hormones. And, for people who want to know where their food came from, the animals are traceable back to to their place of birth.

Certified Angus Beef (CAB), is a brand name for beef from the Angus breed that meets quality requirements of marbling, maturity, consistent sizing and quality appearance and tenderness. Certified Angus Beef Natural has all the CAB requirements, in addition to the "natural" requirements.

CAB is separate from the USDA's quality grading of Prime, Choice and Select.

Certified Angus Beef's purpose is to identify a high quality product, said Marty Berlin, CAB's representative for the Western region. "People buy brands because they respresent a level of consistency at some quality level."