One of the first things I looked at when I planned this trip to New York City was what to eat. Now as you know I have been on this kick of doing the simple things really well, no exceptionally well! That is how I arrived at the Minetta tavern. The Minetta is a smallish tavern located in the West Village and close to NYU. Its claim to fame is the black label burger. How it got its name is a mystery to me. Much has been written about this burger. Some believe that it is the best and it was my aim to find out. For me this was a means to an end, this was my only goal for the day.
Arriving at the Minetta you have a doorman/concierge you walk in to an anteroom open the door and finally part the red velvet curtain, and that is just the entrance. What greets you inside is a noisy old school very posh tavern. I have no reference point on this as I do not go into these very often or at all. There is dark wood everywhere, and it seams that every square inch of the walls are taken up with caricatures of famous people. The place is packed. If you are going as a couple or more I would highly recommend reservations. I sat at the bar. Service is fast and good. To the burger. The burger as I understand it is made of three cuts of ground together by Pat Affray and sons. It is proprietary to the Minetta. It weighs 8 oz before cooking and that is where the fun begins. The burger is formed ahead of time and allowed to rest. The grill is not searing hot. The process starts with a drizzle of grape seed oil on the grill the burger goes down and now we wait, good char on one side and over it goes. Doneness is tested by temp of a metal skewer on the lips of the chef. Medium rare is the only way to go here, to order this beyond that would total defeat the experience. When the burger is done it is placed on a rack to rest. The partially caramelized onions are next. They go right into the burger juice on the grill to finish and absorb the juices of the burger. The burger is placed on a toasted bun that is made in house and topped with the onions. Served with shoestring fries made in house with 1/4 pickle tomato and lettuce on the side. The fries are worth it. Now the taste. I first took a bite out of the side of the burger only to taste just that to start. WOW! For an 8 oz burger it was soft juicy, crunchy goodness. You can really taste the meat, the subtly of flavours that you can only get from mixing different cuts. Not too heavy on the salt or pepper. To place cheese, ketchup, or anything else on this would be a crime. To bite into the whole burger is to have an almost existential experience. The way the burger plays with the sweetness of the onion and the bun that holds it all together. There is a small amount of pink meat in the center, nothing you would have to worry about. You have to force yourself to slow down and eat this. You can not just gobble it down like you’re at the company picnic or backyard BBQ. This is something to be savoured, to taste the texture, the nuances of each bite. That said there is one thing I did notice that really irked me. This had nothing to do with my food but more to what I witnessed around me. This folks is a burger, probably the best one you will ever taste. The package is complete burger, caramelized onions and bun together. So I ask you this, why-o-why do you order the burger without the bun or worse yet you pull the burger out of the bun and eat just the burger with a knife and fork. Folks if you are going to order a burger that this much care and attention in getting it to you, do not f it up and insult the chef and all the staff who work there by not eating the whole package. This burger works. Do not disassemble it to meet the whims of your fancy low carb diet crap. If this is you, you should go somewhere else and let the rest of us enjoy this. Enough said. Ultimately this for me was the pinnacle of it all. The perfect marriage. This is best burger I ever ate. Now what do I do?
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