Hamburger America 2 is Out!!

The completely revised Hamburger America, with 52 new joints, is out and shipping from Amazon as of yesterday. I'm assuming bookstores will follow soon. I'm very happy with the result and hope that you are too.

Burger Bites, Episode 3 - Miami Frita Crawl

Burger Beast, aka Sef Gonzalez is the authority on excellent Cuban food in Miami. He asked me to join him on a tour of some of his favorite frita counters and I couldn't refuse. It took me a while to get back to Miami but I'm sure glad I made time for lunch.

Click here to see the new Burger Bites, episode 3 where Burger Beast and I power through 3 amazing fritas at El Rey, Morro Castle, and the one and only El Mago. If it weren't for the traffic we may have been able to fit in 2 more..

New Burger Bites Coming Soon

I spent the afternoon with Burger Beast hitting a few great Frita joints in Miami last Friday and shot some footage of the journey. As we were approaching the first place, he offered to take me to an additional 4 or 5 places on top of the 3 we had agreed upon. Even I would have had a problem consuming 8 fritas for lunch. We stuck with El Rey De Las Fritas, Morro Castle, and El Mago. I probably could have fit in one more..

Stay tuned for the Miami Frita Crawl, Burger Bites episode 3, coming soon to this blog.

Custom Burgers for Flyers Only

This was, by far, the best burger I've ever had in an airport. I'm working on a story about burgers in Queens and the newish Custom Burgers in Terminal D at LaGuardia was on the list. The people behind Custom took over an old Burger King and have done great things. The beef is supplied by none other than Pat LaFrieda and it's pretty obvious. You can customize your burger with an array of toppings or do what I did and eat yours with cheese only (I took that salad off, above, before eating..). The 4.5 ounce burgers are cooked on a flattop and served on supple, toasted, buttered Martin's Potato Rolls. What could be better?

Oh, and this burger is not for everyone (literally). You'll need a ticket on a Delta flight to enjoy Custom because this place is on the other side of security. I managed to get authorization though, without having to buy a ticket to Indianapolis (it's good to know people).

New Josh Capon Joint is Pretty Awesome

This is a much-belated post. I think I visited way back in November.

After reports started coming back that the burgers at Josh Capon's newest burger outpost Burger & Barrel were amazing I made a point of getting there. Man was I glad I did. These burgers kick some ass.

Though they are relegated to the bottom of the menu, the burgers are the main attraction at this cozy new 'gastropub' (gag). I had the Bash Style burger, presumably the burger that won Josh top honors at the 2009 Burger Bash in NYC (though honestly, the burger at B&B was way better than the burger I ate at the Bash). The Bash Burger makes use of just a few key ingredients (and some of my favorites) - caramelized onions, bacon (bacon jam?), pickles and American cheese. It takes a big pair of nuts to use American cheese on an upscale burger in Manhattan and I love Josh for having the balls to do so. The beef used, of course, is a special Pat LaFrieda blend and it's cooked perfectly on a flattop and served on a super-soft fresh-made bun. A nice flourish is the stack of perfectly cooked jumbo onion rings balanced atop the burger bun.

Fun Book Signing

Thanks to everyone who came out in the snow to Schnipper's for the last book event for the first edition. Hamburger America is now officially out-of-print with the new version coming out in May of this year. And thanks of course to the Schnipper Brothers for hosting the event and for creating great burgers. And of course congrats on making it to year 2. Only 18 more years and they'll be eligible for inclusion in Hamburger America. Keep it up! 2029 is just around the corner!

Pictured above, Andrew and Jonathan Schnipper, and me, looking like I need to lose a few.

Book Signing at Schnipper's

The Brothers Schnipper have invited me to their 2nd anniversary party next week at Schnipper's Quality Kitchen and I'll be there signing books. They plan to give out a pile of Hamburger Americas for free and are celebrating the anniversary with $2 burgers all day. I can't believe it has already been 2 years.

I'll be there at 2pm (do you sense a theme here?), Thursday, Jan. 27. And from 2-4pm they'll be serving my favorite burger at Schnipper's, the Hickory Bacon Blue, for (you guessed it) 2 bucks. Maybe I'll eat 2 of them.

This will probably be the last time the book is seen in print. The first edition of Hamburger America goes out of print in February in preparation for the big May launch of the revised edition. The original version is only days away from becoming a collector's item.

Hope to see you there!

Burger Beast Has A Truck!

That's right, South Florida burger blogger Burger Beast has either stumbled into genius or lost his friggin mind (or both). Starting this week, a huge food truck with his logo on the side will begin to host guest burger spins on a rolling griddle around Miami. The King of the Calle Ocho Frita - El Mago himself will be the first. The truck sounds amazing and even yours truly may make a guest spin on the flattop during promotion for the new book (out May). A green chile cheeseburger in Miami? Could be possible for one-day only..

New Burger Joint Coming to Santa Fe

I have it on good authority that a star chef in Santa Fe is planning to open a burger joint in this shuttered gas station (below) very soon. I know the chef, and his success at his local restaurant coupled with his Wisconsin upbringing will undoubtedly result in an excellent burger joint. Stay tuned..

Great Burgers on Route 82 in Colorado

What a difference a few months can make. The last time I was snowboarding in Aspen, only 8 months ago, the hamburger options were grim. It seemed as though no one between Glenwood Springs and Aspen really gave a crap about burgers. Then Edible Aspen magazine ran a piece on a tiny burger joint in Carbondale named Fatbelly Burgers and burger awareness in the valley was suddenly realized. The joint, which has no seating and a flattop griddle in view, serves simple 1/4 pound 'fast food' style burgers in the spirit of In-N-Out and Shake Shack. To me it is hamburger nirvana - no frills, no bullshit, great burgers.

I returned this year to find that not only is Fatbelly going strong, owner Shane Vetter has opened a second location even closer to Aspen in downtown Basalt. The Basalt location (named Fatbelly Eats) has an expanded menu that includes a handful of new signature burgers, a grilled Ahi plate, even salads. Most notable however is the long bar and bartender as you walk in on the right. The incredible beer selection trumps the wine and that's fine with me. Shane told me, "We are building a stage for live music back there." All of this fueled by burger money. Tasty, greasy, burger money. I was in awe of Shane's hamburger achievements over just one short year.

I arrived in Aspen to discover that the bleak burgerscape of this upscale ski town had given birth to a new burger concept, right at the base of Ajax. CP Burger, only open since October, is excellent. How excellent? I ate a burger there with my brother-in-law, left, then circled back 20 mins later for another.

CP Burger has taken a unique approach to dealing with the apres ski rush. I was shocked when my burger appeared in about 60 seconds, just about the time it would take to bun, load, and wrap a burger. Were the patties pre-cooked? The fresh-beef burgers at CP Burger are cooked on a flattop then transferred to a CVap to stay warm. Are you skeptical? Well don't be. Someone calling the orders explained to me that the CVap suspends the temperature of the patty for up to a half hour keeping the burger moist. It seemed to work because the burger was still very moist and tasty. I had a burger with blue cheese, bacon, and sauteed onions and 20 mins later had another. CP also serves my favorite Shiner Bock in cans, gotta love it. They've also taken a page out of the Bobby Flay playbook and are offering milkshakes spiked with booze, an idea worth drinking.