tommy:eats

MIL report: Swiss Pork Store in Fair Lawn open on Sundays

From the MIL Report files:

Fire & Oak: Montvale, NJ

Walking out of Montvale's Fire & Oak after our recent meal, I felt a feeling that I hadn't felt in quite some time.  I had just given someone 100 bucks, and I wasn't pissed off about it.  I felt like I actually got my money's worth.

Granted, this was just one visit, but my experiences at South City Prime, the now defunct restaurant which begat Fire & Oak (the "Prime" concept wasn't going to fly in this economy, so the owners scaled back their existing restaurant in Little Falls and the two they had planned to the more casual "Fire & Oak"), were always pleasurable, and I would like to assume Fire & Oak is on the same track.  

Pepperidge Farm: Slider buns

Pepperidge Farm (until this very moment, I always thought the company name was something that sounds like "Petrich Farmz") will have you believe that they remembah, and they might very well remembah.  Who could challenge that statement.

Jersey Burgers: Ramsey, NJ

A reader of t:e, "Tentman", prodded me for months to try this small hamburger place in Ramsey called Jersey Burgers.   Of course, I was skeptical.  It took months before I made time to give it a whirl, but I'm glad I did.

Generally, I try to have some sort of story or something vaguely interesting to say before I post about a place that I like.  Blog posts consisting of nothing but pictures with captions like "we liked this" and "the best ever" bore me, and I'm sure they bore you as well.  But I've been sitting on this for long enough, and can't come up with anything, so...

The bun: as important as the meat, and a thank you to the Spotted Pig

Clearly I like burgers.  Clearly.  It's a beautiful thing, the hamburger is.

Since most restaurants have no idea how to make a good burger, I spend a good amount -- probably an unhealthy amount -- of my time thinking about and making hamburgers at home.  I never buy pre-ground beef (except from Fair Lawn's Swiss Pork Store, where they grind to order), use only high-quality interesting cheeses (most of the time at least), really good bacon, rarely ketchup, tomatoes only when in season or Campari tomatoes if not.  And as for the bun?  Well hell, I'm not a baker, and we don't have many options in north Jersey for fresh baked buns or brioche.  So I have to concede and use store-bought mass produced buns. 

Burger King: ooo, ooo, that smell

Burger King is selling a bottled scent that is reminiscent of the Whopper.  Mmmm, Whopper.  Tasty.

I'm guessing it's more reminiscent of the complete lack of self-respect that would drive someone to go to Burger King in the first place.  Mmmm, complete lack of self-respect.  Sexy.

Brilliant marketing though, I'll give them that.

Disclosure:  I do go to BK on too many rare occasions, although I bathe and scrub myself all OCD-like afterward to, you know, clean off the self-loathing . Make mine a double, with cheese. 

Five Guys Burgers: = round Wendy's?

Five Guys burger:  yucky lettuce

Another joint where the hype outweighs the food.

There's no doubt that this is the type of burger I should like:  fresh ground beef (although, I'm not sure if it's freshly ground), that whole roadside stand style of burger that I love (messy, wet, etc).  Hell my first hopes that were it would be a more accessible Shake Shack burger (although I need to get back to Shake Shack to make sure that I actually like their burger...I'm sure I do, as Danny Meyer is no slouch).  And I do like it, but come on, it's not all that exceptional.

Beef: found

I don't normally regurgitate news here, because that's boring.   But I'm really impressed with this feat:

This man has found the beef.  Although, I'm not sure where he put it. 

That's incredible.  Where's the video?  In this age of youtube no one captured this for all the world?

Meanwhile, the medical experts over on Roadfood.com are chiming in.  *sigh*

Green chile: cheeseburgers

Once again I found myself emailing iamnotachef about food instead of posting on this blog about food.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not under the impression that there's a collective minion out there who are hanging on my every word, but every now and again I feel the tinge of responsibility to actually keep this blog going, rather than just shutting it down completely or let it sit out there dormant.  For today, my choice is to keep it going with another post.

I emailed iamnotachef a few mornings back telling him that I've been really into making green chile stuffs, which are way better than ketchup.  About 10 minutes later, he's got this post about how mustard is the "new ketchup".  OK, well, first off, he shamelessly stole my idea.  Second, he's wrong:  green chile stuff is the new ketchup.

In-N-Out Burger: Eh, I'm not convinced

Here on the east coast, we don't have In-N-Out burger.  So we discuss it on food blogs and Chowhound poetically, fantasizing, lusting,... remembering.  I'm guilty of the same.  I had my first (and until recently, only) In-N-Out experience about 4 years ago in Las Vegas.  You know what Las Vegas is.  I don't have to link to Wikipedia.

<remembering fondly>Twas a hung-over afternoon in Vegas, and I knew there was only one thing to do:  call a taxi and have the driver bring me to In-N-Out burger.  About an hour and 50 dollars later, I devoured a double in my hotel room, thinking it was pretty gosh darned good.</remembering fondly>

Fast forward a few years and I remember it as one of the best burgers in my life.  Complaining that we don't have one around here. 

White Castle fries: File under: WTF?

I've been to a few fast food joints over the years.  Hell, over the month.  And I always get a "large" combo meal, because I like a lot of soda.   You do get a lot of fries with the large size, but it's really all about the extra soda for me.  In fact, if you could super-size the diet Coke, and keep the fries small, well that there would be a great option. 

However, even with all of this experience, and all of the thought I have given this, I was absolutely floored, nay, disgusted, when I pulled the large fries out of the White Castle bag the other day.

Mini burgers: Big City style

I was resting in bed today trying very hard to work off a Peter Luger induced food and bourbon hangover, when this came on the TV.  I hope it frightens you as much as it frightened me.  Enjoy:   

Recent: Jersey Burgers

For the love of Pete where the hell have I been?  Weeks since the last post.  Months before that.  You're all worried sick I know.  Well I've been eating burgers.  Mostly mediocre, some downright horrible, but a couple of excellent burgers as well.  And here ya go:

First, one from home.  Good.  Loose patty.  Freshly ground beef. Exceptional bacon.  Good burger to bun ratio.  Exceptional cheese.  So what's so hard about that?

White Castle doubles: 200% the burger, 150% the bread

The other day I realized, after eating White Castles doubles for about 20 years, that the double isn't just double meat.  They also put an extra piece of bread in there.  Like a club sandwich.  Has that extra piece of soggy bread always been in there?  That's freaky, because I've never, ever noticed, after countless White Castle doubles.   You'd think I was drunk or something all of those times I ordered those White Castle Doubles not to notice.

The strangest thing I didn't necessarily eat last year

Brace yourselves.

On November 9th, 2007, I took these things:

Turned them into this stuff:

And made a few of these:

They were pretty good. Grinding your own hamburger meat is always preferable to buying that nasty stuff from the supermarket.  Although, given the chance, I just go to the Swiss Pork Store in Fair Lawn, NJ, and buy some of their freshly ground beef, which is simply the best.

Anyway, on November 17th, 2007, the kitchen started smelling prit-tee funky.  We searched high and low for the offending organic matter, which was clearly being consumed by micro organisms, which were in turn creating tiny but smelly micro organism farts and stuff.  We finally found the source of the odor:  the garbage disposal.

The people at Insinkerator claim that you can put just about anything down their disposals.  Who am I to question this.  However, when you put fat trimmings in there, and you kind of ignore them for several days, you apparently get this:

Red Robin: Why?

Here's a question for you:

What's the worse thing you can say on your way to lunch at Montclair's Little Saigon, where you're planning on having a big ol' hot bowl of pho and some of their wacky "egg rolls," wrapped in lettuce and dipped in nuoc cham.  The answer is, of course, "Hey, let's try Red Robin for the hell of it."

I clearly have to remind myself more often that the people on roadfood.com and chowhound.com and citysearch.com, and any other open forum where anyone can post anything, for the most part, don't know what they're talking about.  "Red Robin has a really good burger" I read somewhere.  Why did I believe that for even one second?  I suppose I really didn't.  But I was curious.  Once a seed gets planted in my head there's really no getting it out until it germinates.  I'm obsessive and compulsive.  Two wonderful traits.  So yeah, I had no choice but to stop at Clifton's Red Robin.

South City Prime: Little Falls, NJ and South City Grill: Rochelle Park, NJ

Updated: 01/09/2009:  South City Prime is closing retooling, and will reopen as Fire & Oak.  Hopefully the good steaks and burgers will remain.

A tale of two South Cities?

Oh that was hacky.  Please accept my apology.

We rolled into South City Prime, on its first night (stupid, I know, but what the hell), with reasonably low expectations.  After all, we had no love for its sister restaurant, South City Grill, a restaurant at which we had a forgettable (regrettable?) meal 10 years ago.  More on that place later.  That, coupled with how unimpressed I was with the other new Little Falls steakhouse, Rare, and hell, I was figuring this was another gaudy big-money more-flash-than-flesh pick-up joint, posing as a steakhouse.

And I was wrong.  At least about the steak.

Biagio's: Paramus, NJ

I’m guessing the Bergen Record recently changed their business model and decided to ramp up their online ad revenue.  And how do you get advertisers to pay you for online ads?  Traffic.  And how do you get traffic to your website?  By having your editors share their opinions on cooking and lifestyle and restaurants and stuff?  Yeah, maybe a little.  How do you *really* get traffic to your website?  Answer:  allow anyone to use it as a soapbox.  And that’s just what the Bergen Record did when it opened up its main site and its Second Helpings food blog to reader comments a few weeks ago.  Now, idiots like you and me can post practically anything (although I’m sure they have guidelines as far as what stays up) in response to the editors (and each other). 

Did I read Second Helpings to see what Bill Pitcher was reporting on before the comments opened up?  Sure, every now and again.   But you can bet that I’m checking more often these days, hanging on every word that TruffleWhippedCreamGal says about A Mano or what SherlockGnomes says about the Allendale Bar and Grill.  Oh the Record is getting multiple hits from me every day, that’s for sure.

And what brilliant timing for the shift to open comments:  they had just published a most unflattering and somewhat brutal review of a well-loved family-run Bergen County restaurant:  Biagio’s in Paramus. 

I sat here on the morning after the review was published, reading the various comments left by fans of Biagio’s (and more here).  I was extremely entertained.  People were clearly taking this very personally.  “Attack my favorite restaurant!?!?!  How DARE you!?!?!?!  You, ma’am, have no idea what you are talking about and should be stoned, publicly.  I am officially canceling my subscription to the Bergen Record.  You need to apologize for being so mean!!! Fire her!!!!!”

The collective reaction was interesting.  I mean, you trash someone’s favorite restaurant, and you are, in essence, attacking them.  And then people hate you.  And I get that.  People have no doubt grown up with Biagio’s (the family has owned the restaurant for quite a few years).  They’ve had birthday parties there.  Graduation parties.  Weddings.   Hell on each of my two recent visits (a weekend day and a weekday night), there was a party going on in one of the private rooms (they have several for your partying pleasure).   The regulars know the owners by name and they’re known by name.  That makes people feel good.  About themselves.  About the restaurant (or, the “establishment”, as its fans like to refer to it in those comments).  Biagio’s is woven into their memories, into the fabric of their very being.  This, I think, partly explains why they don’t realize that Biagio’s simply does not serve very notable food.   Perhaps Biagio’s fans weigh those aspects more than the actual food.  Perhaps they really don’t give food much thought to begin with.  The former is no doubt true, but I’m not about to discount the latter. 

And hey, there’s nothing wrong with not giving food much thought.  I don’t give much thought to a lot of things that others are fanatic about:  clothing, electronics, cars, and pretty much everything but food (and music).  The difference, though, is that my feelings aren't hurt when a magazine reviews my crappy Onkyo receiver and gives it a bad rating:  I’m comfortable with the fact that my Onkyo receiver isn’t all that good.  It serves my needs, and that’s just fine by me. 

But it’s really not important why people like Biagio’s.  I’m sure they’re very nice people, some of whom clearly do not spell very well or write very often, but I’m not going to put much more thought into it.  All I know for sure is what I think about Biagio’s.  You want to know too.  Admit it.  That’s why you’re here, right now, reading this nonsense.  So here you go, complete with crappy cell phone pictures.

Ben and Jack's Steakhouse spotted on "30 Rock"

Since no one else on the internet has mentioned it, I figure I'll take it...

Oh for eff's sake, another burger: sure, why not

We're perdy.

Yer perrrrrrr-dy. 

I could lie and say that this was beef ground freshly in my kitchen, but there's no glory in that.   I bought it from Stop & Shop.  It was in their "upscale" case, though, where you'll find CAB (Certified Angus Beef) and other goodies.  Have a look-see.  And while you're at it, have a look in their "Natural" dairy section for some pretty darned good Greek yogurt.

I wanted to duplicate the burger that I've had at Morristown's Copeland, cuz that's a mighty good burger.   All I really had to go on was beef, cheese, and bacon, so I ran with it. 

Back in the kitchen: quite a decent burger

Searching for a good burger isn't fun.  It's depressing.  You follow crazy leads (Krug's Tavern, Newark - worth a visit), eat mediocre burgers that should be better (Harvest Bistro, Closter), and generally get bitter from the experience.  Or, more bitter, in my case.

The other night I was reminded that quite a decent burger can be found right in your kitchen.   My kitchen, more correctly.  This time around, it was a large, steakhouse style burger.

Cheeseburger in Paradise: Wayne, NJ (and elsewhere)

I’ve been curious about this chain ever since I noticed a branch out in Wayne, NJ, on in Route 46. On at least two occasions over the summer I tried going for lunch and found them closed (they’re not open for lunch M-Th). Luckily, Wendy’s up the street was serving paradise all day long on those days.

I finally got over there on a Friday and checked out this restaurant, named after the very famous Jimmy Buffet song. As you might imagine, expectations were not set very high, and as such were essentially met, leaving me confused that I’m not disgusted by the place, yet I don’t think it’s all that good and would never go back.

The 101 Pub: Bogota, NJ

This year's Easter dinner brought about the revelation that my oftentimes-ball-busting sister-in-law reads this blog, and didn't know it was me behind the magic.  When I asked what she thought about it, she said "Well, there are too many posts on burgers."

So how 'bouts another post on burgers.  Whaddaya say, hmmm?

Fascinating moment in service at Federal Grill: Allentown, PA

I ordered myself a glass of (red) Zinfandel from Renwood to go with my burger.  It was a modest pour at the modest price of 7 dollars, and in a decent glass.

Server: How is the [red] wine?

Me: [Elated] Very good.  And it's chilled.  That's wonderful!

S: That's the only red wine we chill.

M: [Perplexed, but not necessarily surprised] Why don't you chill all of them?

S: Red wine isn't supposed to be chilled.

M: [Defeated already and knowing it]: Sure it is.

S: [Adamant] No it's not.

M: [Requesting logical explanation] Why do you chill this (red) one then?

S: [Not providing, to my mind, logical explanation] Because that's the only one that's required to be chilled.

I'm not sure at what temperature the Federal Grill is serving their non-Zinfandel reds, and I'm not interested in finding out.  I'll stick to the Zin.

As I always try to stress, it's my opinion that a lack of wine education isn't the fault of young servers, but rather it's a management/training issue.   In the case of Federal Grill, they actually do have a wine education program for their servers, and the servers taste and discuss all of their wines.  I think that's fantastic, and more restaurants should take their lead.  Hell, there's no doubt in my mind that this young server knows more about wine and food than I did at her age, and I bet a lot of that has to do with the fine job that the management is doing with this program. 

BUT, and here's the rub, red wine isn't meant to be served warm or room temperature, and the fact of the matter is that it always tastes better somewhere in the 60's...preferably the low 60's.  Wine that is too cold will lose all nuance and nose (and taste).  Red wine served at "room temperature" (in my house that's about 71 degrees) tends to be too "hot" (a blast of alcohol in the nose) and just not all that pleasant to drink in general.  The reality is that restaurants serve, and people drink, white wine much too cold and red wine much too warm.  I'm guessing the three top reasons for this are 1) ignorance, 2) cost, and 3) cost.

Methinks that this concept is lost not only on the general public, but on people in the wine industry as well.  So, it might take some time for everyone to come around.  I'll wait (I gots no choice).  Until then I'll continue to order reds with a bucket of ice while attempting to change the world one server and one restaurant at a time.

On to the burger...

Cliff's Steakhouse: Englewood Cliffs, NJ

There are three types of steakhouses that aren't Peter Luger:
1) steakhouses that don't try to emulate Peter Luger
2) steakhouses that subtly try to emulate Peter Luger
3) steakhouse that attempt to exactly duplicate the menu and food of Peter Luger

My preference is for the latter two.  But for now I'm going to focus on the third.

Simon's: Westwood, NJ (closed)

Update:  Simon's has changed hands and will soon be something different, according to Bill Pitcher at Second Helpings.

I read about Simon's of Westwood a couple of weeks ago in a local magazine.  That was the first I'd heard of it.  What caught my eye was the "black angus burger."  It's been on my list since that moment.   I finally got there and had that burger, and I have to say it was very nicely executed.

Barnacle Bill's: Rumson, NJ

Barnacle Bill's has been getting play all over the internet for years for what is supposed to be the "best burger."  It's been on my list for that long. 

I finally found myself driving down the Garden State Parkway a few weeks ago and decided to try to find it (quite a feat in a car without GPS or maps).

Blue Smoke, NYC: the burger

Photo courtesy of blackeyedpig

Blue Smoke's (NYC) burger, time and time again, gets dissed in various burger "round-ups" (not on that one) and on blogs (here, though) and just about anywhere that people discuss burgers.  So much so that each time I read about someone's thoughts on what is one of my favorite burgers I think "surely this person is going to love it.  surely."  And I'm pretty much always wrong.

My question is: are these people high?  Blue Smoke's burger is certainly one of the best restaurant burgers in NYC.  I'm sticking to that opinion regardless of what the rest of the world says.

Houston's has a burger: that doesn't suck

The Houston's burger can be seen here not sucking.

So I found myself poking around the internet, looking for places that serve a good burger (go figure), and an oddity kept popping up here and there (most significantly on A Hamburger Today):  people have been claiming that Houston's, a chain restaurant, has a good burger.   

Let me make something clear:  I don't think people have very good taste, generally speaking.  So normally, I'd just ignore these claims.  But for some reason I thought they might be onto something.  And A Hamburger Today people seem to put a lot of thought into this stuff.  So, off we went to Houston's in Riverside Square mall, in Hackensack, NJ.  After my experience with Applebee's "Triple Prime Burger", I wasn't expecting much.  Of this you are assured.

Notable recent bites: Oceanos, Babbo, Maywood Inn, The Restaurant

I know what you're thinking:  I haven't been posting blog entries so I must not be eating.  Well just because I don't post blog entries doesn't mean I'm not eating.  That's plain silly.  Of this you are assured.  It's just that I don't always feel like writing a whole bunch, or, more accurately, don't think I have anything interesting to say (usually the case).  So, every now and again, I write these superficial little recaps, describing what I recently ate and where I ate it, if it think it's important enough.  It's less pressure on me.  This comes out of laziness, lack of motivation, lack of confidence, and a complete and utter lack of interest in whether people return to my blog for fresh posts.  The occasionally declining tommy:eats blog stats are a testament to that, if not a reminder to post something.  Anything.

So here you go:  superficial and shallow notes on a few notable bites from the past week or two, that I think you should know about, from Oceanos (NJ), Babbo (NYC), Victor's Maywood Inn (NJ), and The Restaurant (NJ):

Bobcat Bite: Santa Fe, NM

I can't remember where it was that I first heard about Santa Fe's Bobcat Bite and its burger.  It might have been George Motz's documentary Hamburger America.  But I think it was even before then. 

Regardless, it's been on my "list" for some time now.  And I was very excited to finally get a chance to pull up a stool and grab a green chile cheeseburger here.

The Porter House: Montvale, NJ

My quest for exceptional burgers in New Jersey brought me to the Porter House in Montvale, NJ.  I had reviewed their website for months before actually making the trek.  I'm not sure why I didn't go sooner, but I guess it was the whole "Irish pub" vibe that I saw on the website.  That's not to say I don't like Irish pubs.  But I just didn't know if it or its burger would pull through.  Both did.

It's muh birf-day! Where we goin!?!?!?!

For our birthdays, the missus and I generally ask each other the question:  what restaurant would you like to go to that we normally wouldn't go to 'cause it's too far, or too 'spensive, or too whatever.  Today was my birfday, and the question was no different.  The answer, however, sounded a lot like this:  "Ruby effing Tuesday's." 

That's right:  "Ruby effing Tuesday's" (The only place that I put an inappropriate and silly-sounding possessive "s" at the end of...he said, ending a sentence in a preposition.  Not sure why I do that.  Either of those.).  What can I say: that commercial that I saw on Saturday afternoon, all talkin' about that "Triple Prime Burger" (scroll down...atta boy), really got me going.  I realized that I needed to try it.  It was really that simple.  And why not waste a Monday night meal on it, especially since I had a great lunch at Otto with Dbroc from blackeyedpig, and, given that fact, could have basically had my own ear wax and a diet Pepsi for dinner and still gone to bed pretty satisfied.

Copeland in Morristown, NJ: the burger

Looking at my blog here, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that all I do is think about hamburgers and, on top of that, eat a whole lot of them.  The truth is, I don't eat all that many hamburgers, but I do try to eat a lot of good hamburgers.  Point being, I don't like wasting a burger meal on a crappy hamburger.  Rest assured there are more crappy burgers than good burgers, so this isn't a very simple task.  It's a challenge.  A pursuit.  So yeah, I spend a lot of time thinking about hamburgers.  But not as much time eating burgers as you might think.

Which brings me to the burger at Copeland in Mo-town (which I've had 3 times in the last 2 months). 

'tis a silly burger

Generally speaking, I prefer a grilled burger, about 6 ounces, over any other kind.  When done correctly, you'll get some wonderful char and end up with a nice, juicy beast of a burger.  So that's what I focus on.

But after seeing Hamburger America, a very tasty documentary by George Motz, it occurred to me that burgers can be good no matter how you cook them.  Specifically, griddle-cooked burgers can be wonderful. 

Epstein's Bar, LES: the burger

We ended up at Epstein's Bar in the lower east side the other night.  Word from my friend's roommate was that they have a good burger.  The folks at CityRag agree.  They're smart folk.

Epstein's opened a while back in the old Living Room space.  The Living Room was a tiny little bar, packed with tables, where you could catch some pretty decent music on the right night (for free, no less), like, for example, the wonderful and talented Lauren Hoffman.  Those were the days. 

Somehow, the owners of Epstein's made the same space seem double the size.  They opened up floor to ceiling windows and doors, and put some tables outside.  Perfect for people-watching, if that's your thing.  It's mine.  There's a sizeable bar still, but only a handful of tables inside.  Lower east siders don't need all those tables (and they look just like east villagers did 10 years ago).   And, they have what appeared to be a really good internet-connected jukebox.  And a big flat-screen TV. 

None of that matters.  What matters is that the burger ($7 with bacon, although you can get it for $5 without), is really excellent.

Brady's at the Station: Ramsey

Brady's used to be called something else.  The Trackside maybe?  I'm not sure if the place changed hands (confirmed:  new owners) or just changed names, but, sadly, the menu remains the same.  And when I say the same, I mean that my menu had stains on it that were clearly older than this incarnation of the restaurant.

It's the type of place that really should be good.  It should be great.  It's large, and it has a bar.  There just aren't many bars in Bergen county.   To my mind, it could compete on several levels:  family-friendly, bar scene, pub grub, entertainment.  But, alas, it really falls short.  A recent meal went something like this:

Several bad burgers: at restaurants, and one good one: at home

I sent my buddy dbrociner to Oceanos in Fair Lawn under the assumption that the burger might be good.  I only thought this because a bartender at Oceanos (Cara/Kara) told me that they had plans to have a really good burger at lunch.  Yeah, it's a Greek fish restaurant, but I thought "just maybe."

dbrociner took a hit for the team, folks, and I think you all should thank him.  You can see his reaction to the burger in the comments in the Oceanos post.   

Anyhow, having had a mediocre burger myself this weekend at Janice Bistro in Ho-ho-kus, and, getting the report from dbrociner, I was left with no choice but to make another burger at home.  I'm fed up with crappy burgers!!

The Mason Jar: Mahwah, NJ

I've been lamenting the fact that northern NJ is sorely lacking for decent bars with decent "pub grub".  I mean, is it too much to ask for a restaurant with a clean bar where I can order a good burger and a decent glass of red wine?  And maybe, just maybe, the bartender can make a decent martini?

Sooooooo, I've been on a mission for the past 6 months to find such a place.  And the results have been dismal.  I've been to chain restaurants, Irish pubs, old restaurants, new restaurants, a restaurant that looked like it should serve a burger and didn't.  I've been everywhere.  And they are all pretty bad.

However, one place stands out above all others.   The Mason Jar in Mahwah is that place.   

hamburgers: don't let someone else screw them up

good hamburgers are few and far between.  it’s time to take matters into your own hands.

 

i’ve taken to grinding my own meat for burgers. while it takes a little trial-and-error to get the right mix of meats to balance out fat, flavor, and texture, i’ve been working on ripping-off Michael Chiarello's recipe, which consists of equal parts of short ribs, brisket, and sirloin.

another mixture with which i’ve had great success is brisket, short ribs, and shoulder.