Burger Club

[elyse]

Feeling pressure from Burger Club members, I write to you. If you haven't heard of my quest, it is to find the best burger (reasonably priced) in the city. No truffles, no caviar, nothing that seeps into the meat, meat being beef. Excellent meat, cooked well is what I am after. We have hit bumps along the road, but that will happen.

Do you have a favorite burger here? I must say that I have found about four favorite burgers in my life. One was in the Virgin Gorda c. 1975, one in Providence, RI, twice c. 1985-86, one at Mr. Chipps next to McGlade's on Columbus and 66th here in NY c.1986 before they were both demolished... and I'm blanking on one. Point being, that I find them few and far between. And I eat an awful lot of burgers. Got one? I am very interested.

And I would be remiss if I didn't extend an invitation to any of our BC meetings which you will find here. We meet every two weeks or so at a place from the growing list, and all are welcome, always. Next meeting date to be determined due to conflicts with the IH/MRS Show at the Javits Center. But it's coming soon.

Many thanks, Elyse

[Mister_Cutlets]

Elyse,

What a pregnant question! My opinions about burgers are very highly developed and dogmatic. You really should order Meat Me in Manhattan! (Buy It!). But in the meantime, here's what my burger researches have been telling me since I wrote the book.

To sum up my theme of themes in "The Burger Barons," the book's leadoff essay, I believe that only burgers of classical morphology can contend for top honors. A burger shoud be above all else disclike; the proportion of surface to interior should skew overwhelming in the direction of deliciously brown, crunchy and caramalized surface, the better the contrast against the smooth and viscous goo of the thick tangerine-colored American cheese that tops it. My own favorite burger is Veselka, although I am frequently embarassed by their tendendcy (esp. during the day) to overcook the burgers. Stress that you don't want it overcooked!

Anyway, while Veselka is still my favorite, I've had four superb burgers since closing the book, all of which should have been included.

1. Blue Smoke. I'm not a big believer in huge, thick burgers for the reasons described above, but I make an exception for truly great ground-beef sandwiches like Blue Smoke's, which is about as juicy and flavorful as you can get. The brioche bun is not objectionable, and the house-cured bacon it's served with is of very high quality -- though not in a league with Veselka's armour thick country bacon. It's not deep-fried like the Corner Bistro or McHale's either. The main thing is the chuck / sirloin, which unleashes a veritable gusher of beef juice from its perfectly cooked interior.

2. Blue 9. To me, this is the epitome of what a burger should be. Blue 9 serves the sandwich in its platonic form, ultra thin, dried out to the point of being all surface, on a toasted white bun, and served with square cheese. I abhor their "special sauce" but it's easy enough to order it without, just as it's easy to eat between meals, or for dessert. It's cheap, the fries are great, and the milkshakes passable. The friendly Japanese kids who seem to run it do a good job of keeping the orders straight and keeping the place as clean as can be expected. I don't like the double cheeseburger, though -- the single is just perfect.

3. Friars Coffee Shop. This little coffee shop near the U.N. was said by some anonymous foodie on the Chowhound board to have a burger "like a giant White Castle" and so I immediately jumped into a cab and went there. It's actually just a traditional coffee shop burger, with the cheese melted onto both sides of a large seeded bun in the broiler, and a disclike burger expertly grilled. But what's wrong with that? It will replace the burger I used to love at Chris' Daily Treat, before they started parboiling the burgers to save time.

4. How embarassing! The name eludes me, but this hipster takeout restaurant is right next to the Old Homestead, and features overpriced sliders served on little brioche buns as round and unwiedly as eggs. The tiny, malformed discs were badly over-browned, and as a result over-cooked. I still enjoyed them, but ten of them is worth one white castle.

So that's where I stand right now.

Yours,

Mr. Cutlets

[elyse]

Veselka, seriously? How bout that? I didn't even know they made burgers. It will go on the Burger Club list.

Can you explain this to me?

Blue 9. To me, this is the epitome of what a burger should be. Blue 9 serves the sandwich in its platonic form, ultra thin, dried out to the point of being all surface

Dried out in what way? I like grease and juice in mine. Dry loses big points for me.

All your faves will be added/debated on the BC thread. Thanks for putting the time in.

[Suzanne F]

Mr. C -- you mean RED LIGHT???? Jeez, who'da thunk?

edited in response to Mr C: well, it USED TO BE Red Light, or some such. The place with the red velvet settees and curtains, no? (not to be confused with the place on the corner of 9th and 14th, sort of catty-corner.)

And as for Blue Smoke --

Edited November 5, 2003 by Suzanne F (log)

[Mister_Cutlets]

Suzanne,

I don't think the place next to the Old Homestead is called Red Light. It has some hipster one-syllable name like "snack" or "good" although obviously it isn't either of those.

as for the dry-burger conundrum, I'm thinking that you could make a pretty good argument for it deserving its own class in the burger phylum. These flat little burgers have almost no moisture of their own; they depend on cheese and / or pickles for all their moisture, but present the most striking textual contrast with the cheese for that reason. Mr. Cutlets is a freak for browned meats -- I once even ate a well-done steak at Knickerbocker!

As for Veselka, you can see what their hamburger, which I like better than the Corner Bistro's, in the picture on the "Meat Mr. Cutlets" page here. I have found though that Veselka in recent months has been overcooking burgers, and you have to either stress to them that you don't want it overcooked, or order it a degree less than you want and then let it sit on your plate for a couple of minutes while it cooks that last degree. (That's a little trick I give in the book in the book's Doneness Ordering guide.)

yours,

Mr. Cutlets

p.s. have you or any of your society tried the hamburger at nice matin or Washington Park?

[elyse]

We're only on our third outing this weekend, and we'll be at the Parker Meridian (Burger Joint being on Broadway and 77th). I'll post our itinerary in a minute. Nice Matin and Washington Park are not on it yet. Not so sure about them either. Are they worth it?

For that matter, there are places on the list that I personally will not be going to, like Corner Bistro, for instance. Not worth the time it takes to get there. Not even for free.

I'll have to look into Blue 9. Sounds interesting.

[elyse]

Here are the suggestions so far:

Smith & Wollensky's

Cafe Luxemburg

Tavern on Jane

Chumley's

Blue Smoke

Mchale's

Luger's

White Manna (NJ)

Landmark Tavern

Burger Joint

PJ Clarke's

Fairway's

Old Town Bar

Corner Bistro

Judson Grill

Mc Sorley's

Island Burger

Parker Meridian

Jackson Hole

Now:

Veselka

Blue9

Friar's Coffee Shop

That other place

I just remembered, Mc Anne's by the courthouses was another great burger. They too closed down.

[Mister_Cutlets]

So am I invited to this or what?

impatiently,

Mr. Cutlets

[elyse]

Days ago, dude!

And I would be remiss if I didn't extend an invitation to any of our BC meetings which you will find here.  We meet every two weeks or so at a place from the growing list, and all are welcome, always.  Next meeting date to be determined due to conflicts with the IH/MRS Show at the Javits Center.  But it's coming soon.

Many thanks, Elyse

Oh dear. It looks like I didn't edit it with the new information. Sorry about that. Please come, or post another day when you'd like to join. Again. all are welcome. And with advance notice, you can sit with us too! AND depending on what town you're in, in which country, feel free to visit our other chapters.

Next Burger Club meeting will be a week from today at the Parker Meridian burger place. 118 West 57th, 212-245-5000. Saturday the 8th, at 6:00.

I think this covers it.

[Fat Guy]

I'd just like to stress that no invitation should be extended casually to Mr. Cutlets. He has certain requirements that necessitate a great deal of planning and forethought:

- Mr. Cutlets always travels with both a security entourage and a social entourage. In this regard he has been likened to Jackie Chan.

- All seating charts must be approved by Mr. Cutlets' social secretary at least 72 hours prior to the event.

- In a tradition similar to that of "Prima Nocta," Mr. Cutlets reserves the right to take the first bite of everybody's food.

- Please do not touch Mr. Cutlets unless he asks you to. This will most likely occur if he needs you to scratch his back.

- Mr. Cutlets suffers from narcolepsy, a serious medical disorder. Should Mr. Cutlets fall asleep during a conversation, please continue speaking until he wakes.

- Mr. Cutlets requires the installation of special light bulbs at all venues where he is to appear. These allow his flesh to appear normal.

[elyse]

You make the arrangements, and I am THERE, buddy. This added to the scales, thermometers and charts, and I won't even be able to STAND the fun.

[Suzanne F]

I dare not speak for the other BC members -- how could I? I don't know who they are, in this most secret of secret societies -- but Mr. C would be most welcome, even given these proscriptions:

- Mr. Cutlets always travels with both a security entourage and a social entourage. In this regard he has been likened to Jackie Chan.

Great! So long as they all order burgers, too. And pay.

- All seating charts must be approved by Mr. Cutlets' social secretary at least 72 hours prior to the event.

This could be a little difficult; can we work something out, given that the time is fast approaching?

- In a tradition similar to that of "Prima Nocta," Mr. Cutlets reserves the right to take the first bite of everybody's food.

Is that the same as Le Droit du Saveur?

- Please do not touch Mr. Cutlets unless he asks you to. This will most likely occur if he needs you to scratch his back.

Wait -- you mean he's the guy on the far left of that photo?

- Mr. Cutlets suffers from narcolepsy, a serious medical disorder. Should Mr. Cutlets fall asleep during a conversation, please continue speaking until he wakes.

Can he teach that to us, for non-BC social events?

- Mr. Cutlets requires the installation of special light bulbs at all venues where he is to appear. These allow his flesh to appear normal.

He should have been with us at Molly's.

[Mister_Cutlets]

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. Mr. Cutlets

is the most unobtrusive of guests. Give me only a small space

at the table, and room to point my ear-horn, and I shall be

quietly content with my hamburger(s).

[elyse]

- Mr. Cutlets suffers from narcolepsy, a serious medical disorder. Should Mr. Cutlets fall asleep during a conversation, please continue speaking until he wakes.

Can he teach that to us, for non-BC social events?

- Mr. Cutlets requires the installation of special light bulbs at all venues where he is to appear. These allow his flesh to appear normal.

He should have been with us at Molly's.

Suzanne, you're on fire today.

Ear horn... strangely, I can't think of anything clever to say about an ear horn.

[Ling]

Hi Mr. Cutlets,

BC (up here in Canada) also has a Burger Club chapter. Have you sampled any of the burgers in Vancouver? If so, which places do you prefer?

And how many burgers can you eat in one seating?

Edited November 6, 2003 by Ling (log)

[elyse]

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.  Mr. Cutlets

is the most unobtrusive of guests.  Give me only a small space

at the table, and room to point my ear-horn, and I shall be

quietly content with my hamburger(s).

So, are you definitely in?

[Mister_Cutlets]

I'm definitely in...although I've been to the Burger Joint at the Parker Meridien and came away unimpressed. What's the next meeting? Keep me in the loop! I can be reached at

mr-cutlets@mr-cutlets.com

I would be honored to come. Has you been to JG Melon yet?

Mr. Cutlets

[elyse]

We haven't, and I haven't since the eighties. You like?

First rule of Burger Club is that Burger Joint is on Broadway and 77th.

That being said, I've heard mostly positive reports from Parker Meridian. Figured I should try them myself. They're cheap enough, anyway.

I will try to keep it in mind to send you a special invitation for our meetings if the thread is too strenuous to keep up with.

[glenn]

I will try to keep it in mind to send you a special invitation for our meetings if the thread is too strenuous to keep up with.

glenn raises hand, me too please! Or better yet, just start up www.burgerbitch.com. It's inevitable :-)).

[elyse]

Start it up for me and I'll do it.