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From A Hamburger Today
Posted by Nick Solares, October 11, 2008 at 3:00 PM
Rachael Ray's Burger Bash, part of the NYC Wine & Food Festival, took place last night, and for once the pimple-faced, grease-stained burger geeks became the beautiful people. While Ed and I had full tickets to the event, Adam came along last-minute and got in on a 20-minute press pass, complete with an escort.
From left: Tom Colicchio of Top Chef fame, burgers from New York City's Market Table restaurant.
Luckily, Ed managed to eventually pull a few strings (AHT is, after all, America's favorite hamburger weblog and anticipated, and indeed helped foster, this veritable burger renaissance that we are enjoying at the moment), and Adam was allowed to stay for the duration of the event, which was fortunate because there was a lot of ground to cover, with almost as many burgers to try as the number of minutes he was originally allotted.
I am sure you will read numerous accounts about all the celebrities who were at the event, but for me the real stars of the show were a handful of burgers and the minds behind them. Meet the burgers, and the burgermeisters, after the jump.
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From A Hamburger Today
Posted by Nick Solares, October 9, 2008 at 11:45 AM
Last week I was fortunate enough to attend a tasting of the new "Black Label" burger blend from Pat La Frieda organized by The Feedbag, Josh "Mister Cutlets" Ozersky's triumphant return to daily blogging.
The Black Label blend is aimed at high-end restaurants and features an intoxicating mix of skirt, brisket, short rib, and a secret cut that is actually dry aged! It has an extremely generous 70/30 meat-to-fat ratio, making for an ethereally succulent burger.
The blend will be sold in numbered batches, to restaurants only, for a premium price: $11.99 per pound, says La Frieda's Mark Pastore. Expect the price of a burger from this blend to be north of $20, probably well north.
Unlike other fancy-pants burgers, the price of this one may actually be justified. As tasting attendee Brett Reichler of restaurant group B.R. Guest noted "Hey, it’s dry-aged steak at half the price. In this day and age that’s not a bad thing."
Indeed, when I got to the event, George "Hamburger America" Motz suggested I smell the patty. The funky, earthy, mineral-rich tang of dry-aged beef was unmistakable. And it translated into the finished product, the taste of which evoked nothing less than prime steak.
You can read Ozersky's full account over at The Feedbag
From A Hamburger Today
Posted by Nick Solares, October 7, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Delicatessen
54 Prince Street, New York NY 10012 (at Lafayette Street; map); 212-226-0211; www.delicatessennyc.com
The Short Order: A potentially decent burger completely ruined by a sugary brioche bun
Want Fries with That? Comes with fries but they are not very good
Price: cheeseburger $10
Notes: Open seven days a week, 7:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Almost everything about Delicatessen is a facade, starting with the name. Delicatessen is not a delicatessen at all. Aside from paying lip service to the name via the inclusion of a few traditional deli items—a riff on the Ruben sandwich and a Matzo ball soup—the bulk of the menu is self described as "international comfort food" and features such diverse items as fried chicken, fish and chips and, for our purposes, a hamburger.
The service is far from hospitable. The hosts, ostensibly the people who welcome and seat you, don't do much hosting. They mostly ignore you until you press them, at which point they'll give you a vague answer that a table will be available in ten minutes despite that almost half the restaurant is empty (or half full depending on your level of optimism). It's only when you express an intent on dining elsewhere that a seat will miraculously open up. The waiters are also misnamed: They don't wait on you, you wait on them. And wait and wait. Even the busboys need to be asked to actually clear your table.
But it doesn't matter—no one goes to Delicatessen because they're looking for an authentic New York deli or service that is mediocre at best. In fact, I doubt anyone goes to Delicatessen for the food at all; the principle draw here comes down to two factors: location and avocation.
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From A Hamburger Today
Posted by Nick Solares, September 30, 2008 at 2:00 PM
This week I am taking a break from a full review to cover some variations on hamburgers found in New York City restaurants. The following are either foods inspired by the hamburger that are not themselves hamburgers, or hamburgers inspired by other hamburgers.
Lure Fish Bar
As Adam noted in his review of the Lure burger, it is probably counterintuitive to order a hamburger in a fish restaurant. I have to say, however, that the burger at Lure Fish Bar is impressive in almost every regard but two: It comes on a brioche bun and is nothing like the burger it is patterned after, namely the venerable In-N-Out Burger. The Lure Burger is quite tasty, made with quality loose-packed beef and topped with fresh ingredients. But aside from the Thousand Island dressing, the burger bears little resemblance to an In-N-Out Burger for being served on a brioche bun and having a far thicker patty than even an In-N-Out double-double has. It also comes topped with onion rings and is bisected by default, further extricating it from resembling a California-style burger. It's a good burger hampered by poor bun choice, but don't expect it to bring you any closer to California. 142 Mercer Street (at Prince Street; map); 212-431-7676; lurefishbar.com
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From A Hamburger Today
Posted by Nick Solares, September 23, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Shopsin's General Store
Stall 16, Essex Street Market, 120 Essex Street, New York NY 10002 (b/n Delancey Street and Rivington Street; map); 212-924-5160; shopsins.com
The Short Order: Amazingly authentic sliders that rival the nation's best, but Shopsin himself is the real star of the show
Want Fries with That? Comes with chips, fries are extra and untested by the reviewer
Price: sliders $9; burgers $7
Notes: Open Tues. through Sat., 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
"That's you?...You're wrong!" bellowed Kenny Shopsin when he discovered that I, occasional but passionate (and accepted, at least at the time of writing) patron of Shopsin's General Store, and the writer of Beef Aficionado who last year heaped lavish praise upon his sliders, were one and the same. It wasn't enough that I called his sliders the finest I have had in New York City and the closest one can get to White Manna, the appropriately named holy grail of sliderism in Hackensack, New Jersey, without actually leaving Manhattan.
"I see what they are doing," he said. referring to a video I had posted on White Manna. "They steam the onions; my sliders are better, I grill them," he stated definitively, as if that was the end of the discussion, which it actually turned out to be. "You'll see—try mine again and you'll eat your words."
I retorted that when it came to burgers I didn't mind eating my words one bit, and put in my order. I could have posited that the gooey, oozing onions on the sliders at White Manna add a particularly pleasing textural component—not to mention a sweetness that his onions lack by virtue of all the sugars being caramelized—but Shopsin had moved on, laying out a perfectly reasoned but expletive-filled diatribe against the city parking system. Of course, Shopsin's onions, like Shopsin himself, have their own particular charms. And while I still give the White Manna slider the slight edge, the ones at Shopsin's have one thing that Manna does not have: Shopsin himself.
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From A Hamburger Today
Posted by Nick Solares, September 16, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Black Iron Burger Shop
540 East 5th Street, New York NY 10009 (b/n Avenue A and Avenue B; map); 212-677-6067; blackironburger.com
The Short Order: Potentially excellent burgers hampered by over cooking and a poor bun choice
Want Fries with That? Absolutely—they're golden, crispy and delicious. Don't miss the shakes either
Price: cheeseburger $7; fries/rings $4, milkshake $6.
Notes: Open 7 days a week, 6 p.m. - late night (call ahead, closing times appear to vary)
My father, a dapper and suave dresser, once told me that a gentleman should take a long time to dress, meticulously preening his tie and breast pocket handkerchief until they are absolutely perfect and then ruffling them impetuously to make them appear as if they only took a few moments to assemble. This sort of describes Black Iron Burger, whose opening was greatly anticipated here at AHT and across the blogosphere.
While, Black Iron Burger looks like the owners just stuck a griddle into an existing, possibly decades-old bar, the reality is that not much of what you see upon entering the place actually existed before the multi-month renovation began. Or if it existed, it was buried under years of prior renovations that had to be stripped away.
Irrespective of the time it took, the results are impressive. Black Iron Burger appears to have been open for decades, with its dark, worn wood interior complete with exposed rafters and brick. Tarnished mirrors hang behind the bar and on the adjacent wall, and the reflections of the warm lighting are amplified by the glass casting a golden hue over the room. Bottles of Heinz ketchup, Gilden's mustard, and Grey Poupon line the walls along narrow shelves, tall tables, and stools dominate the relatively cramped room.
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From A Hamburger Today
Posted by Nick Solares, September 9, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Although I live in New York City I spend quite a bit of time in Los Angeles, which gives me the chance to explore all that the City of Angels has to offer in the way of hamburgers. And that is an awful lot. As a friend who lives in L.A. stated, "NYC has pizza; we have burgers." Indeed, the proliferation of burger spots across the L.A. landscape is heartening for any lover of America's favorite sandwich. I have recently reported on the Apple Pan, Pie N Burger and Fred 62, so here is a quick roundup of some other burgers that I have tried in L.A.
In-N-Out Burger
There is surely no burger more synonymous with the Southern California style than the venerable and ubiquitous In-N-Out Burger chain. If I fly into Burbank, the Sunset Boulevard location is usually my first stop from the airport. While most people go for doubles, I prefer the simplicity of the single. I have also recently discovered Animal Style fries (topped with cheese, spread, and grilled onions), which make for an interesting diversion from the standard. If you have never eaten at In-N-Out, it should be your first stop in L.A.; if you have been there, it probably already is. 7009 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood CA 90028 (map; numerous other locations); 800-786-1000; in-n-out.com
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From Serious Eats: New York
Posted by Nick Solares, September 4, 2008 at 10:30 AM
You usually see Nick "Beef Aficionado" Solares in this space talking about burgers, but today, it's hot dogs. Hot diggedty! —Ed.
Peter Fellows is far too modest to actually make the claim that Walter's Hot Dogs are the best in the world, but you can tell he knows they are. Fellows manages Walter's Hot Dog Stand in Mamaroneck, New York.
Founded in 1919 by Walter Warrington and originally located on the Boston Post Road, Walter's moved to its current address in 1928. Locals refer to it as the "new" location. The building Walter erected on Palmer Avenue is curiously patterned after a Chinese pagoda and was designed to attract attention. It does. As you drive down Palmer Avenue, the distinctive building with a copper roof as weathered as the Statue of Liberty is impossible to miss. Lanterns hang off the extruded peaks, underneath which is invariably a line of hungry patrons. When one of the lanterns was damaged in a storm a few years back it cost more than $5,000 to repair. That's a lot of hot dogs, but fortunately Walter's sells a lot of them. As Fellows says, "We count them by the mile."
Warrington developed his custom-made hot dog with the help of a local German butcher. It is a closely guarded blend of beef, pork and veal and was designed so that it would not shrink, curl, or burn during cooking. The same butcher made the dogs for Walter's for many years, but after he died, Boar's Head agreed to make them for Walter's using the secret recipe.
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From A Hamburger Today
Posted by Nick Solares, September 2, 2008 at 10:00 AM
If it's Tuesday, it must be time for another review from Nick Solares. Nick is also the publisher of Beef Aficionado, his blog that explores beef beyond burgerdom.
Pie 'N Burger
913 East California Boulevard, Pasadena CA 91106 (b/n South Lake Ave and South Mentor Ave; map); 626-795-1123; pienburger.com
The Short Order:Classic So Cal-style griddle-cooked burgers replete with Thousand Island dressing. While there is nothing unique about the recipe, the execution is unmatched. It's the author's favorite example of the breed
Want Fries with That? Absolutely—they're golden, crispy and delicious
Price: hamburger $6.25; cheeseburger $6.75
Notes: Open Mon.-Fri., 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sat., 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sun., 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Last week I reported on the venerable Apple Pan restaurant and its justifiably hyped burger offerings. An equally compelling burger—albeit with far less star power (you probably won't see Jack Nicholson or any other celebrity dining here)&madsh;can be found in Pasadena at the decades-old Pie 'N Burger. I have to thank George Motz for featuring Pie 'N Burger in his book Hamburger America. I would have definitely made it to the Apple Pan irrespective of his book, as it is world famous, but a hidden gem like Pie 'N Burger would have likely slipped under the radar, overshadowed by L.A.'s more celebrated burger joints but for Motz's coverage. And what a shame that would have been, for Pie 'N Burger provided me with one of the seminal burger experiences of my life.
While the Apple Pan benefited from its proximity to the Hollywood movie studios and has served everyone from Clark Gable to Barbara Streisand, Pie 'N Burger has thrived on the back of a different constituency: local college students from USC and Caltech, as well as legions of those salt of the earth-type working people that you only hear about during primary elections.
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Website: http://beefaficionado.blogspot.com/
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Favorite foods: Dry aged Prime Rib, Japanese Wagyu, cheeseburgers.
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