Burgers and Bourdain

Burgers and Bourdain
The last two days of subway rides for me have been spent reading Anthony Bourdain's second novel Medium Raw, in which, so far, he comments on how young his views were in Kitchen Confidential, and how he's changed, for the better, with the birth of his daughter and the end of his bad (i.e drug) addictions. He also, of course, talks of food, in a sometimes pornographic (the chapter Lust) and always opinionated way.

My most recently completed chapter was that on the american burger, how most people eat a disgusting combination of random animals parts dosed with drugs to fight the ecoli. Bourdain comments on the new cultural fad of boutique burgers, the all-natural, grass fed, free range meat being served for anywhere between $12 and $26. Bourdain agrees with the idea that we should be eating the all natural stuff, but that everyone should be able to eat it, not just those crammed into high end hip restaurants. There is no need, he said, for the poor of this country not to have access to the same quality meat as those who can afford boutique.

After reading this I, of course, had a hankering for boutique burger, and found is at BareBurger. The restaurant has several locations, mostly in New York, and offers a great variety of grass fed, organic burgers, made out of everything from turkey to bison. I settled, after ordering a six point stout, which was creamy, light in flavor (dark in color), and delicious, I settled on my choice. The blue cheese, bourbon sauteed mushrooms, apple smoked onions, blackened maple bacon, lettuce and apple chutney on a brioche bun set of toppings, which I opted to have on an ostrich burger, a lean cut of meat with subtle flavors that don't fight the many accessories.

In many places, blue cheese on a burger means meager chunks of tasteless calories, hapazardly thrown on a flat patty. At Bareburger, you receive a real slab of smelly, flavorful and familiarly organic blue cheese. The entire burger was great, especially accompanied by the fresh cut fries served with curried ketchup (this I had never had, and must admit to eating the entire container).

The experience was easy and enjoyable, especially finished with the caramel brownie and ice cream with coffee I needed to steady myself before an evening of Sondheim's Follies on broadway, which was appropriately stunning and depressing.