HAMBURGER HEAVEN

Hamburger Heaven - Luxury Travel Magazine

Hamburger Heaven

By: Jane Gifford, Issue 39 – Winter 2009

(Hamburger Restaurants – New York, United States of America)

THE HAMBURGER HAS EVOLVED FROM FAST FOOD TO A GOURMET STAPLE IN SOME OF NEW YORK’S FINEST RESTAURANTS.

In New York City these days the humble hamburger is anything but. This all-American fast food favourite has invaded the menus of many of the city’s top dining spots as celebrity chefs try to one-up each other with mouth-watering creations made from the finest and freshest ingredients. Priced moderately, as they typically are, gourmet burgers are the newly budget-conscious discerning diner’s ultimate comfort food. Here’s where to find some of the best.

Fans of Daniel Boulud, the star chef widely credited for starting the burger craze back in 2001, can economise by forgoing a table at his flagship Daniel and heading instead to DB Bistro Moderne in the theatre district. Here, the legendary DB Burger – a delicious assemblage of ground sirloin stuffed with tender red wine braised short ribs, foie gras, a dash of root vegetables and preserved black truffle – is hard to beat. That generous mouthful comes sandwiched between a toasted parmesan and poppy seed bun spread with horseradish, oven-roasted tomato confit, fresh tomato, red onions and frisée lettuce.

Or there’s Boulud’s latest venture, the relaxed DBGB Kitchen & Bar which opened in June downtown on the Bowery. This creative chef offers his interpretation of bar food. The Yankee, an American classic; The Frenchie, with caramelized onions and crisp pork belly confit; and the chef’s favourite, The Piggie, topped with BBQ pulled pork and jalapeño mayonnaise, are among the nourishing hamburger choices.

Gotham’s first and foremost gastro pub, The Spotted Pig, also has an excellent burger on its menu. English ex-pat chef April Bloomfield is the talent behind the thick juicy chargrilled Roquefort cheese-topped beef blend on a brioche bun. This old-style West Village tavern, decorated with all sorts of charming pig-inspired paraphernalia, takes no reservations and its popularity means that the wait for a table can be long. The upside to this is that Bloomfield’s cooking is very, very good and regulars Bono and Beyoncé might be waiting in line on the street with you.

A little further downtown in Tribeca, the Bouley Burger at Bouley Upstairs is a family favourite of in-the-know locals. This chunky grilled beef patty with cucumber, lettuce, red onion, fresh herbs, French mustard, ketchup and cheese comes skewered between toasted English muffin halves and is the work of David Bouley, another of the city’s established chefs and owner of several eponymous restaurants in the
neighbourhood. This burger is easily (and often) split between two children.

Literary types might enjoy stopping by Minetta Tavern, a speakeasy-style former haunt of the likes of Ernest Hemingway and the Beat Poets. This Greenwich Village fixture re-opened several months ago, after veteran restaurateur Keith McNally (Balthazar, Pastis, Morandi, and Odeon, among others) took it under his wing with a couple of chef partners. The classic burger here illustrates the belief that a good burger is all about the meat and the griddle. Like most of the other establishments mentioned in this article, long-time local butcher Pat La Frieda is the supplier of the tasty meat. The firm is extremely busy these days, run off its feet as the go-to supplier of superior custom blend burger meats for New York’s pickiest and most competitive chefs.

Tenacious characters might find trying to wangle a table at Vanity Fair Editor-in-chief Graydon Carter’s Waverly Inn of interest. This establishment is a much-hyped semi-private club-like restaurant located on the ground floor of a West illage townhouse. The Waverly Burger, like the rest of the fare here, has a reputation for being hit or miss but thoroughly enjoyable when paired with surreptitiously eyeing Gwyneth Paltrow, Jack Nicholson and other recognisable faces that frequent the dining rooms here. To make a reservation though, one has to be privy to a secret phone number or incredibly savvy after making it through the door to the tiny bar.

If a shopping expedition in the vicinity of Bloomingdales on Lexington at 59th Street is on the agenda around lunch time, then consider heading inside the venerable department store for a bite to eat. Downstairs on the lower level, past Ralph Lauren and various other designer menswear brands, is the store’s newest restaurant, Flip. This is a tiny but thoroughly modern burger joint where the maître d’ wears a suit. There are several signature burgers on the menu but the fun thing to do here is to create your own from the long list of simple and exotic ingredients. One possible combination, for example, is the tangy Moroccan lamb sausage burger blend, with olive tapenade and mango salsa on an organic caramelized onion and sage brioche roll.

On sunny days, spring through fall, there’s no better place in the city to enjoy a lunchtime burger than under the shady trees by the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. This means that at peak times waiting in line for at least 40 minutes is to be expected. However, once that’s over and done with, sitting down to enjoy one of Danny Meyer’s famed steer or mushroom burgers followed by a creamy Frozen Custard is really very rewarding. Realising that he was on to a good thing here, this prolific restaurateur (Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, Tabla, The Modern and others) and long-time advocate for locally-farmed produce opened another outpost on the Upper West Side that serves up the same grub all year round.

And finally, since no trip to New York is truly complete without watching a baseball game live, game-goers who usually fear stadium concession stand food will be relieved to learn that Citi Field ballpark – home of the New York Mets – is now also home to a Shake Shack concession. Meyer’s burgers, shakes, and other freshly-made offerings provide sustenance to all well into the night.

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