This New Burger Is So Good, Even Fast-Food Killjoy Mike Bloomberg Can’t Resist

New York Post ^ | Nov. 29, 2023 | Alex Mitchell

[nickcarraway]

Self-proclaimed hamburger scholar George Motz made a documentary and a Travel Channel show devoted to burgers, he’s traversed the country to find the best beefy offerings and he wrote several meaty books, including “Hamburger America, a State-by-State Guide to Great Burger Joints,” which was lauded by Anthony Bourdain.

Now, Motz is flipping the patty, opening his own place in Soho called Hamburger America.

“I never had a plan to open a restaurant,” the Long Island native told The Post. “I started with a film on burgers and then got into cooking them. It was definitely an inverse to the usual path.” The 43-seat eatery at the corner of MacDougal and Houston has a retro feel with gleaming luncheonette counters and a color scheme that references its key menu item — yellow seats that conjure cheese, brown walls that suggest beef or buns.

[Fungi]

The meat used for hamburgers is important. Look at the fat content of hamburger as sold. You will find 20 percent fat, 15 percent, 7 percent and pure lean as marketed. While it is said flavour is in the fat, true for the most part, but that determines the cooking time and smoke profile.

Grill a 20 percent burger and it will flare up beyond belief. A 7 percent patty will not flare as much, if at all.
Also important is what beef cut is used for the meat. Hamburger meat is usually from the chuck and accounts for all the fat. A leaner cut is from the sirloin and is leaner with minimal fat.
Higher end butchers know the difference but you have to ask.
Then there are all the accouterments on the burger, sides, the bun, and all else—but that is another discussion.

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

I like my burgers better than any I can buy - 80% lean beef patties seasoned with Lipton onion soup mix and grilled. I usually grill on a Char-Broil True Infrared gas grill with hickory chips for smoke flavor because I usually don’t have time to light a charcoal grill and let it get hot enough - but charcoal tastes better.