If this really does taste good, I’ll be thrilled. Via Newsweek:

In the next several months the U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to rule on whether or not (and if so, how) cultivated meats can be sold in the country. Industry watchers say authorization is likely. Once sales are permitted in the U.S., other countries will soon follow, and companies from around the world will start bringing their cultivated meat products to market in what is likely to be the biggest meat revolution since the domestication of cattle. Aiming for higher (ahem) stakes may hinder Aleph’s advance to market, but Toubia shrugs off the competition, confident that slow and steady progress wins in the end. “First to market is not necessarily a benefit with new food categories. Our priority is impact, for the planet, and taste, for consumer acceptance.”

He may be on to something. My thin-cut steak, brushed with butter and seasoned simply with salt and pepper, hits the hot grill of Aleph’s demonstration kitchen with an audible hiss. The scent of seared meat wafts towards me as the in-house chef flips a credit-card sized portion onto my plate. The steak is disappointingly slim—I’ll have to come back another time for the thicker, 3D-printed version—but it is as tender and juicy as the interior of a filet mignon. As I cut into it, the meat tears into strands more characteristic of a brisket, but with none of the dryness. I take a bite. The flavor is pure meat—a caramelized crust giving way to a savory richness. The square shape and thin cut betray my steak’s bioreactor origins, but eyes closed, I wouldn’t know the difference. With my last bite, I realize Toubia was wrong. It doesn’t taste like the future. It tastes like steak. Without the guilt.