Burger Week Warm Up!

Halifax Burger Week is soon upon us, with over 50 participating restaurants serving up $5 burgers and/or specialty items with some proceeds going to FEED Nova Scotia. Yay! Burger Week was created last year in the height of the burger boom. I had just finished my Gourmet Burger Quest of 2012, when suddenly 2 more burger restaurants opened (The Works, Crispy Cristy) and Burger Week was announced. Make sure to check out my Burger Week 2013 Report – I’m re-reading my old blog posts, drooling over old pictures and getting excited for Burger Week 2014! Before I eat my weight in burgers, I thought I’d get warmed up with some burger story time and show & tell.

Basic cheeseburger from The Chickenburger. During Burger Week, $5 will get you one with  buttermilk fried chicken, cheese, frizzy onions and a spicy mayo honey mustard sauce.

The truth is – there was once upon a time when I almost retired the hamburger from my diet. The year was 2008. MGyver and I had recently completed our Chicken Wing Quest, and I was toying with the idea of doing a Halifax Burger Quest.  My options were limited. Back in those days, Maxwell’s Plum used to have this incredible hamburger special where you would get 2 hamburgers (read: 2 hamburgers!) and fries for $5. They were good burgers too, until they switched to pressed pucks around the same time I temporarily hung up my hamburger hat. Then there was the “PG’s Special”, which was actually a hamburger, but had to surrender that title to A&W in accordance with food court law. The “Ultimate Burger” at the Henry House was deserving of mention, and Darrell’s, of course, was the Halifax burger champion.

The legendary Darrell’s peanut butter burger. $5 during Burger Week.

As for the myriad of pub and diner burgers all across town, none came to mind as anything special. That was the problem.  I kept eating burgers and I kept feeling unfulfilled. Filled, yes, but my deeper spiritual needs were not being met. My culinary soul was stuck in a city of greasy spoons and rowdy pubs increasingly switching to Sysco.

Then everything changed.

In 2009 two significant things happened: the recession, and my migration to Calgary. Both of these events were meaningful to my hamburger journey. When the recession hit, people stopped eating out at fancy restaurants so often. Halifax lost a steak house and gained a burger bar when John Allan’s Luxx transformed into Victor’s Bar & Grill (RIP). Many restaurants repositioned themselves as casual dining establishments, and the hamburger started making more appearances on their menus. It was like – grease meets gourmet! Comfort foods were being dressed up to satisfy our need for affordable dining.

Meanwhile, I was backpacking across Canada. During my travels, I encountered two hamburgers that restored my faith in the almighty comfort classic. Moncton’s Pumphouse Brew Pub served us a Buffalo Burger that was unapologetically pink and delicious. Then at The Works in Ottawa, I had a peppercorn crusted burger that sealed the deal. Hamburgers and I were still friends. I will never forget the two burgers that fought to save the relationship.

“Grills Gone Wild” at The Works in London, ON.
Grilled eggplant, avocado, salsa and feta cheese. Nice pink centre –
something I didn’t see at The Works in Halifax.

After a month and a half of traversing Canada I found myself in beef country. I decided to quest for the best burger in Calgary, so I conducted my research and hit the streets.

Here are some of my favourites:

Buchanan’s “Blackened Hot & Spicy Jalapeño Jackcheese Burger” –
available for $10 between 3pm-6pm!

Buchanan’s Chophouse & Whiskey Bar has house-ground sirloin burgers cooked to your liking. Amazing. Even more amazing is that a burger and fries costs $18.50, but only $10 during happy hour!

Just look at that beef! Buchanan’s makes a mean burger.

Then there was the elusive “Alley Burger”, which was sold on a word-of-mouth basis in the alleyway behind CHARCUT Roast House. This was a scaled down version of CHARCUT’s famous “Share Burger”, a roasted garlic sausage patty (as many ounces as you like) with cheese curds and fried egg. Thankfully, CHARCUT jumped on the food truck bandwagon early with their Alley Burger Food Truck.

The Original Alley Burger – a garlic pork sausage patty with cheese curds and piri piri aioli.
Pro-tip: Don’t order a double!

But there was only one burger in Calgary that made me close my eyes and take a moment of appreciative silence, and that was Rocky’s Burger Bus. This is the burger that made me realize it is all about the beef – not the toppings, not the seasoning, not the bun. The beef. Rocky’s burgers are fresh, hand-pressed AAA Alberta beef, cooked in such a way that the caramelized exterior locks in the juices. The beef is unseasoned. The regular ‘ol bun is hit with relish, onions, and mustard – nothing that would detract from beef appreciation. It is a humble masterpiece:

Rocky’s Burger Bus makes one of my all-time favourite hamburgers.

Due to my location and Calgary-wage, it was easy enough to take trips to Las Vegas and San Francisco. So I got to try In & Out Burger! This institution is a favourite of California and the American Southwest, where if you hear somebody ask for a “Double Double” they are not referring to coffee.  Quality local ingredients are the claim to fame at In & Out, as well as the “Not-So-Secret Menu”. For the record, I have had a double double served both ways, and I prefer “Animal Style”.

“Double Double” at In & Out Burger, Las Vegas

As for the best burgers I’ve ever had…

Shake Shack makes the list. This Manhattan-based burger joint has a location near Times Square that you just can’t miss – just look for the people lining up down the street. Actually, it’s Manhattan – there’s hoards of people everywhere, so just look for the glowing sign that says Shake Shack.  The “Stack Shack” piles together the regular burger with the veggie burger, which just happens to be a deep fried cheese-stuffed portobello patty. O.M.G. Definitely one of the best burgers I’ve ever had.

An order from Shake Shack: frozen custard, crinkle cut fries, cheeseburger and the almighty “Stack Shack”!

Then there was Motor Burger in Windsor, Ontario. I had the “Deux Chevaux”: grilled beef, sharp dijon mustard, gruyere cheese, baby spinach, smoked bacon and balsamic caramelized onions. Good stuff.

Deux Chevaux from Motor Burger, Windsor, ON

But the very best burger I’ve ever had was at Kuma’s Corner in Chicago, which is a famous heavy metal themed burger bar with a decidedly not-heavy-metal patronage. My burger had caramelized onion, pancetta, brie, bourbon poached pears and was called “Lair of the Minotaur”. Rock on.

“Lair of the Minotaur” at Kuma’s Corner, Chicago

In 2012 I watched from afar as Cheese Curds, Halifax’s first gourmet burger resto, set up shop in Woodside. That summer I ate my way from Calgary to Vancouver Island, from Seattle to Chicago, from Detroit to Montreal, from New York City to Newfoundland. By the time my travels were over and I was back in Halifax, I found myself with a brand new waistline in a brand new city. There was a huge local & community movement going on in Halifax- lots of pride in our people and products. There was a new expectation that restaurants would provide inspired meals using local ingredients. I have been watching as our raggedy binge-drinking bars are shutting down and being replaced with classier venues that emphasize quality food and drink. I am seeing cranes in the skyline! … cranes, which I used to joke were the official vehicle of Calgary – a city defined by prosperity and growth.

As for hamburgers? The great burger boom of 2012 is behind us, and the landscape, once abundant with burgers, is dominated by fro-yo, tacos, and grilled cheese sandwiches. Fads come and go, but the burger is too classic to go away, and the restaurants that do them right will continue to flourish.

On that note I would like to add Ace Burger’s “Deluxe” to my list of the best hamburgers I’ve ever eaten. It is not a feature of this year’s Burger Week menu, but both Ace locations will have a $5 burger that will blow your socks off. I’m still trying to find my socks after eating the “Big Bad Wolf” at Bearly’s yesterday!

“Big Bad Wolf” at Ace at Bearly’s – Oulton’s pork belly, Brothers back bacon, smoked Gouda, bacon jam, fried egg, honey mustard. Wow.

I hope this post has made you hungry. Burger Week starts on March 20th, so you may as well take a look at the hamburger roster. Expect daily reports from Eat This Town, your friendly neighbourhood hambloggalar!