Best Burger in NYC Search: The Burger Bash

The Food Network Wine & Food Festival is a special time of the year. An unparalleled number of culinary masters descend upon NYC, flexing their flavor yielding muscles to provide some of the best fare eaters can collectively wrap their heads (mouths?) around. Among the plethora of wild events that take place, the Blue Moon Burger Bash leads the way as the hottest ticket around. Gathering some of the most prominent burger building chefs in the country to the equally great space in Brooklyn at the Tobacco Warehouse, the Burger Bash is an event unlike any other for burger lovers – especially those like us who search for the best burger in NYC.  With over twenty participating restaurants and chefs, the collection of finely tuned meat is massive.

This year’s Burger Bash included:

ABC Kitchen (Dan Kluger)

Abe & Arthur’s (Franklin Becker)

Baked (Renato Poliafito & Matt Lewis)

Bark Hot Dogs (Joshua Sharkey)

Beauty & Essex (Christopher Santos)

Benoit (Philippe Bertineau)

Bill’s Bar & Burger (Brett Reichler)

Bobby’s Burger Palace (Bobby Flay)

Burger & Barrel (Josh Capon)

Custom Burgers (Michael Coury)

DBGB Kitchen and Bar (Oliver Quignon)

Goodburger (Tom Galis)

Holsteins Shakes and Buns (Anthony Meidenbauer)

Landmarc (Marc Murphy)

Porter House New York (Michael Lomonaco)

Quality Meats (Craig Koketsu)

Restaurant Marc Forgione (Marc Forgione)

Schnipper’s Quality Kitchen (Jonathan Schnipper)

Shake Shack (Mark Rosati)

The Dram Shop (Lesley Stockton)

Quite the collection, no? It was OUR PLEASURE to attend such a lavish and well represented event. It’s essentially the one night of the year when a burger blogger feels like Burger Royalty. With no shortage of burger sustenance, below we round up a few of our favorites from the evening.  

ABC Kitchen

The Burger: Akaushi Cheeseburger with Herbed Mayo: Aged Bloomsday Cheese, Baby Argula and pickled Jalapeños on a Sesame Bun.

Jalapeno doesn’t typically come to mind when you peak at a laundry list of burger toppings, but ABC’s burger helps make the case. Pickled to perfection with delectable tanginess, the pepper gave this entry its clout. In addition, a nicely medium rare patty draped in aged cheese and a winning soft and airy bun helped Chef Kluger make quite the impression. It’s no wonder his Union Square restaurant was one of the best new spots received in 2011.

Beauty & Essex

The Burger:  Lamb & Brisket Burger: Spicy Garlic Aioli, Vine Ripe Tomato, Goat-Feta and pickled Red Onion.

Who says Beauty & Essex is all glitz and glam in the LES? Chef Santos constructed a buzz-worthy burger for the ages with his unique combination of lamb and brisket. Supreme texture and taste, the first bite was a knockout. Feta cheese mixed with a spicy aioli? Genius. Still, the meat shined through and that, in essence, was the brilliance magnified in this burger.  Well-balanced, cooked medium rare and bearing that desirable char, Beauty & Essex’s entry was outstanding.

Burger & Barrel

The Burger: Bison Burger, Slab Bacon, Smoked Cheddar & Secret Sauce. The Bash Burger: American Cheese, Secret Sauce, Shaved Pickles, Bacon & Onion Jam on a Martin’s Potato Roll.

No secret, we love Chef Capon’s Bash Burger. And for good reason, it’s magically delicious. The guy is as consistent as one can be with his delicate preparation and equally proportioned bites. Apparently, the cooking apparatus at the Bash threw a wrench in his plans to serve bison – the result just wasn’t to his liking. So, he scrapped the bison and went with the tried and true Bash Burger which won him 2009’s People’s Choice Award. Good call. Juicy, beautifully charred and oozing at the seams with that molasses-like jam. Perfection.

The Results

Heinz Best Dressed Burger

Beauty & Essex

Judge’s Choice

Abe & Arthur

People’s Choice

Burger & Barrel

 Chef Josh Capon of Burger & Barrel

Consider us vindicated and confirmed as burger aficionados. Can we say that? We mean, let’s face it, we love the Bash Burger from Lure/Burger & Barrel and it’s now won two of the past three Burger Bash People’s Choice Awards. Coincidence? You decide. Nevertheless, jokes aside, Chef Capon deserves the praise – his burger is truly tasty. Similarly, Beauty & Essex’s win was justified, as Chef Kluger’s toppings crushed the competition.  

Overall, the 2011 Blue Moon Burger Bash, in all its glory, was an epic success. We strolled the grounds with our good buddy Rev from Burger Conquest (check his NYWFF Burger Bash review here) and couldn’t have asked for better company – the man just knows his burgers. Next year, we implore you to grab a ticket to this feast, wear your loosest fitting jeans and try every burger possible…the gluttony is worth every penny.

Best Burger in NYC Search: Burger & Barrel

Burger & Barrel

25 W. Houston St. (cross of Mercer St.)

(212) 334-7320
Burger: Mexico City Burger ($15)

UPDATE: *Sadly, the Mexico City Burger was retired from B&B in early 2013. Though, they still serve up fantastic burgers, including their famous and award-winning Bash Burger.

If you’re anything like us, reading about food – the latest trends, up-and-coming chefs, newest NYC hot spots – can become an obsession. Since we began our quest to find the best burger in NYC, we’ve encountered plenty of the aforementioned subject matter. That said, following our first review of a restaurant headed by Chef Josh Capon, the perpetual Soho hot spot Lure Fishbar, we’ve seen the rise of “burger madness” or “Burger Bedlam,” if you will. It appears that every big name chef is getting in on the burger game – and we can’t blame them. The trend of adding a burger to the menu seems now inherently embedded in the minds of restaurateurs when strategizing their kitchen offerings. Being no exception, since the ascension of Chef Capon’s stature among the burger world, pursuant to his 2009 Wine & Food Festival Burger Bash win (and maybe with some assistance from our praises?), it would seem he was destined to open a spin-off based on said success. Thus, Burger & Barrel was born this past October. While serving up his lauded Bash Burger was an obvious choice, Chef Capon expanded his repertoire to a veritable pantheon of burgers, often varying the selection with the seasons. Therefore, it was only natural for us to venture a stones throw from Lure on Mercer St. for a taste of one of the new burgers at Burger & Barrel.

Our Expectations: The Mexico City Burger. A six ounce patty of Pat LaFrieda blended chuck, short rib and brisket topped with mozzarella, avocado relish, pickled jalapenos, Bibb lettuce and tomato. Placed on a custom built roll deemed by Chef Capon as similar to a Parker House roll (generally buttery, soft, and slightly sweet with a crispy shell), then topped with the B&B and Lure signature staple, two big fat onion rings. Drooling yet?

The Burger

Meat: Pat LaFrieda can do no wrong. At this point along our search for NYC’s best burger it may be as obvious as calling the sky blue or the grass green, but every time we taste a LaFrieda blend, its killer. Still, the Chef has to do his part with the execution – LaFrieda can’t season and cook the meat himself. Though, Chef Capon does him justice. With just the right amount of seasoning and a successful by the book medium rare grilling, we loved the outcome. It’s juicy, tasty and texturally mouth-watering. Almost identical to the Bash Burger, if not exact, the meat isn’t overwhelmed by the toppings – it stands tall on its own. If anything, we wanted more.

Toppings: Variations on the classic cheeseburger are always easy to point to with skepticism and a Mexican style burger obviously is cause for some. Regardless, B&B put together a combination worthy of winning over any skeptics. It’s readily apparent that Chef Capon turns toppings into an art form when constructing his burgers, as this one was delicately balanced. The jalapenos provide the kick you’re looking for when Mexican comes to mind, while the avocado relish delectably counter-balances the bite from the peppers. Mozzarella was a pleasant choice as it added a touch of creaminess. Though, the cheese wasn’t as heavily cut as some other burgers we’ve had, and for that reason it didn’t pack the savory punch we so desire. Lastly, the Bibb lettuce was a good touch but next time we’d leave off the tomato, just unnecessary and we’d rather focus on the other toppings for taste.

Bun: The saying goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and once we heard the change in bun for the burgers at Burger & Barrel – from a Big Marty’s potato roll to a custom built Parker House style bun – admittedly, our eyes rolled a bit. Our affinity for potato rolls has been long documented, but we obviously need to trust the professionals – they do this for a living – because Chef Capon got this right. Light and buttery with a slight glaze, the bun added a harmonizing sweetness to each bite. Though, as compared to a potato roll and its soft texture, the bun did have a bit of chewiness to it. Not a terribly bad thing, but if we’re comparing apples to apples, we’d choose the Lure bun by a nose. Nevertheless, the beef to bun ratio is spot on and the customized bun remained intact throughout consumption.


Bedlam's Burger & Barrel Judgment

Meat (49): Tops marks on seasoning, temperature execution, freshness and texture. LaFrieda is a dominant force in the meat purveyor industry and The Mexico City Burger is a great example of why. A superb blend with excellent fat content made for a succulent patty – we just wanted more of it.

Toppings (23): We ended up drinking the Kool-aid with this one as the toppings came with the right amount of balance. Nice bite from the jalapenos was pleasantly countered by the rich and smooth texture of the avocado relish. The mozzarella also provided a bit of texture but didn’t do much else flavor-wise despite having a nice melt.

Bun (23): Sweet, buttery and fresh, the custom bun made us fans of the unique Parker House style. We’d prefer a touch less chewiness but still felt satisfied with the taste. Holding form as we ate and adding ample coverage of the patty as well, custom was a nice touch.

Ranking: 95 out of 100

Burger Bedlam Bites: 5/22/11

We're serving up a new weekly segment to keep you acquainted with the news and stories we deem worthy from the prior week. A small, curated list. Think we missed a must-read? Drop us a line at contact [at] bestburgernyc [dot] com.

• Burger Bedlam favorite Burger & Barrel has new lunch and dinner menus while also launching a happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. with $5 wine and beer on tap. Aside from the always amazing burgers, try the fried chicken, short rib tacos and chicken lollipops. Trust us. 
• An epic column from A Hamburger Today on their bi-coastal taste-test between In-N-Out, Shake Shack and Five Guys. We approve of the outcome. [AHT]
• Gilt Groupe has launched it's latest site, Gilt Taste with former Gourmet Editor-In-Chief Ruth Reichl at the helm. [NY Mag Grub Street]
• If you're not following @ruthbourdain on Twitter, you're missing one of the most hilarious tweet profiles around. Case in point, the still anonymous creator just won the James Beard Foundation award for humor writing. With that, he/she took a satirical play on Gilt Taste last week called...Guilt Taste. [Ruth Bourdain Tumblr]
• McDonald's is feeling the pressure to fire Ronald McDonald. As long as they don't axe the Hamburglar, we're good. [WSJ]
  

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