Lawrenceville Restaurant That Served Horse Meat Gets USDA Warning

PITTSBURGH, PA - The United States Department of Agriculture isn’t horsing around with the Lawrenceville restaurant that served horse meat last week at a special dining event. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service sent Cure chef and co-owner Justin Severino a letter warning letter for illegally bringing horse meat into the country.

The warning does not penalize the restaurant or Severino. But the restaurant could be criminally prosecuted if it serves equine fare again, as Congress has banned the inspection of horse meat for human consumption.

Horse is not on the restaurant’s regular menu. But horse tartare was one of the items prepared as part of the restaurant’s Cure’ated Dinner Series, a collaboration with guest chefs curated by Cure chef and co-owner Justin Severino. The guest chefs at Monday’s event were Scott Vivian and Nate Middleton, both of Toronto.

Severino said on the restaurant’s Facebook page that the meat came from a sustainable horse farm in Alberta, Canada.

Photo by Lee via Creative Commons.