December meeting: Red Owl Tavern

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Story by Alyssa and Julianne of two eat philly

This month’s Burger Club “meeting” was held at Red Owl Tavern, the newbie restaurant in the also-newbie Hotel Monaco in Old City.  The Monaco is the second Philadelphia area hotel in the Kimpton line, following just a few years after one of my personal favorites, the Hotel Palomar near Rittenhouse.  Executive Chef Guillermo Tellez formerly worked at Square 1682 at the Hotel Palomar, and has created an “indie steakhouse” while maintaining the basic tenets of a tavern.  You may have read a scathing review of Red Owl from Phyllis Stein-Novack at South Philly Review- we hoped her negative comments didn’t shine through in the burger!

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The restaurant spans a long corner slot at 5th and Chestnut (nobody from our group could come up with the previous use of this building) with the hotel entrance immediately adjacent.  The pastry chef works in a tiny kitchen near the entrance, enticing us all with a display of pies and cookies before we even ate dinner.  We had a space reserved upstairs, in a loft complete with all the loft-y accoutrements: lots of dark wood and black metal and a few uplights (Mrs. Stein-Novack’s complaints of lack of light are certainly founded).

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Unlike some of the other restaurants we’ve convened at, Red Owl only has a single burger, the “Big Red Owl Burger”- the waiters simply had to ask us how we wanted our meat cooked.  Thankfully we had a delicious distraction while we waited- housemade truffled popcorn.  This stuff was insanely good and super addictive.  Our table of ten went through several buckets of it in half an hour- warm, salty, buttery with a kick of truffle oil.

The burgers all arrived almost simultaneously- impressive for a group of 20+.  Of course, this means that there were probably a few mix-ups and a few overdone burgers, but that’s pretty much par for the course.  The burger is described (on the online menu) as topped with crispy bacon, cheddar, herb sauce and onion marmalade, and is a hefty serving living up to it’s $15 price tag.

In examining the burger upon its arrival, it’s clear there are a few changes from the menu description.  Shredded lettuce and tomato are little extras (fine by me but not by all others) and the “onion marmalade” clearly had raisins within.  I don’t like raisins, and I definitely don’t want them on my burger next to lettuce and bacon.  That’s just weird.  Thankfully, the mix consists primarily of  caramelized onions which were easy to remove.

The bun was a good fit for the meat, with a floury surface and a light texture.  The bacon and cheddar added the necessary salt and grease to the well seasoned lean beef.  The patty isn’t monstrously thick, making it that much harder for the chef to reach the requested medium-rare.  The lack of pink didn’t kill this burger, though- a definite sign of a well prepared sandwich made with quality ingredients.

Other club members decided the onion marmalade/raisins really made the burger- a hint of cinnamon and sweetness was reminiscent of an empanada.  I’m still not convinced that either cinnamon or raisins belong in a burger, but to each their own- and again, a nod to the chef for making such an odd topping a hit with many in our group.  The crispy fries lightly coated in shaved pepper jack cheese were a good complement to the meal – a special touch to an otherwise normal side.  The ratings are all in, and Red Owl has earned the #6 spot in Burger Club history- a solid placement for such a new establishment.

Red Owl Tavern

433 Chestnut Street

What is the burger club?

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Recently I was asked how Burger Club fits into urban life. A huge smile came to my face and I simply responded, “We ARE urban life,” and I’d like to take a moment to really flesh that out – for everyone. I was raised in the suburbs, went to college in the suburbs, and after I graduated I decided that I wanted to live in the city. I’m not alone in this, I think that a lot of young people take this route after college. I wanted to be “where the action is” and no one can argue that the city has a lot of action. To be a true urbanite, one must fully delve into what makes living in the city different from living anywhere else. It’s important to experience all facets of city life, like going to concerts and performances, talking to neighbors, seeing the sights, knowing the streets and MOST IMPORTANTLY eating the food! That’s where we come in.

The Burger Club meets the last Wednesday of every month at a different place in Philly famous for burgers. Sometimes we go to big name Center City meccas. Other times we squeeze ourselves into tiny back street bistros. The one thing that never changes is that we always have a good time. We exemplify what it means to “eat, drink and be merry”. Often times the same people come every month. Sometimes we meet new friends. Members are not expected to come to every meeting, and returning after a hiatus offers a feeling as if no time has passed at all.

The best thing about Burger Club is there’s an easy topic of conversation that everyone can appreciate – burgers. There’s not too much awkward silence between new acquaintances because they’re talking about what kind of cheese they like best on a burger and if the one they’re eating is cooked to the right temperature. There are no rules or dues, every member is simply expected to come to a meeting if so desired and enjoy themselves. We exist to have fun and we have fun through eating burgers.

Join the Club – Don’t be this guy

I always felt a little silly telling people I’m part of the “burger club,” but once I explain what we do the conversation usually ends up with “how do I join?”. The Burger Club is great for people new to the city because everyone’s welcoming and eager to meet others who share their interest of burgers. The Club is also great for people who have lived in the city for a long time who like to meet up with old friends and enjoy a good meal and maybe explore parts of the city they haven’t given much thought to. I don’t know how much closer to a definition to “urban living” you can get.

Philly’s Burger Palooza 2012 @ Yards Brewery

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Story by: Joelen Pastva
Photos by: Madhuri Kaul

For a little bit of context, let’s travel back in time a couple of weeks to Wednesday night, Thanksgiving Eve. If you were unlucky, you were stuck in the traffic snarl of people trying to get out of Philadelphia after work. Or if you were lucky you’d already secured a table at the bar for drinks with old friends and family on what is always the busiest bar night of the year.

We considered ourselves among the really lucky as our train soared past the standstill I-95 traffic on our way to the Yards Brewery for its first annual Burger Palooza. As the word “palooza” would imply, this was to be a night of excessive burger consumption to rival the turkey feast planned for the next day. Four area food trucks – Street Food Philly and Spot from the Drexel area, Chewy’s from University City, and The Moo Truck from Bucks County – were on hand to serve up three rounds of gourmet burgers, which could optionally be accompanied with fries from Say Cheese Philadelphia or cupcakes from Cupcake Carnival. Once burgers from the first round were up, chefs launched right into round two, and so forth. And of course, since this event was held at Yards, admission also included two drink tickets, which could be redeemed for either beer or delicious house-made root beer.

We arrived early and managed to grab some of the first burgers from round one. I’d heard a lot about Spot, what with their in-house butchering (wow!), so was eager to see what they had to offer. The “drunken spot” was infused with Yards Brawler and topped with gouda, fried onions, mustard, and Spot sauce. I was impressed with how well the burger was cooked (all palooza patties were apparently ¼ pound in weight), and the meat seemed to really take on a good flavor from the Brawler. I did find the bun to be a bit too bready, which somewhat overwhelmed the rest of the burger. For round two, they served the Cochise burger, made with a bison blend, horseradish mayo, swiss, and crispy sage. The toppings were phenomenal, but again the bun softened their punch. Overall, with such creative toppings and fresh, expertly cooked meat, I definitely plan to visit the Spot truck again in the near future.

Chewy’s put out a really fun burger for round one, which featured spicy tomato sauce, Cajun fried onions, mozzarella cheese, and basil, easily knocking the socks off of most meatball subs I’ve ever had. Street Food Philly, which uses local dry-aged beef, served a “Porky von Egg” for the first round, topped with ham and hollandaise sauce. Maybe it’s because this was already burger #3 in less than 30 minutes, but we found this to burger to be underwhelming and greasy.

Our favorite truck of the evening was Moo. They kept things simple, but this is partly due to truck owner Evan Asoudegan’s decision to get all of his ingredients locally, so he only cooks what’s available. Round one was the Moo burger, with your standard lettuce, onion, pickle, and cheese toppings on a grass-fed patty. Despite its simplicity, the Moo burger is what every burger should strive to be. The beef was delicately seasoned, had just the right about of chew, and was perfectly in harmony with its bun and toppings. Round two was basically the same burger, but with the addition of bacon, and I will say without a doubt that this was the best bacon I have ever eaten in my life. Go get this burger right now! This burger tied for the top of the night, along with the Lone Ranger from Chewy’s, which had applewood smoked beef topped with George Washington porter mushrooms that were outta this world.

After all this burger merriment, we simply could not make it to round three and had to hit the road for our own Thanksgiving travel. Fortunately the traffic had cleared, and we were now fortified with bellies full of fantastic burgers. Maybe there’s room for a new Thanksgiving ritual, even if it does have the word palooza in it.

November meeting at Spiga

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Photos by Kit Farman: http://www.kitfphoto.com

This month’s burger club event was hosted by Spiga (1305 Locust St)! Spiga is a newish place not too far from broad street located in center city. The first thing you’ll notice about this place is that you need to enter through a door that goes through a hallway on the side of the restaurant. I kept thinking how silly that whole thing was, who approved that design? It makes for a cool image from the street though, all you see is people eating inside, no hostess station or anything like that. The interior is very warm and welcoming with exposed brick and reclaimed wood all over the place. It has a very cabin-in-the-woods feel to it – excellent for a chilly fall night.

Shortly after everyone arrived (on time!!) we ordered. It didn’t take too long for the parade of burgers to reach our table. This isn’t one of those skyscraper burgers, it sits quite comfortably on a little rectangular plate accompanied by a handful of shoestring fries. Topped with bacon and goat cheese, this is not your average burger. It might take a few bites to get a good taste of the goat cheese but when you do you’ll be in heaven. The fries were really hot and good. I know this probably isn’t the best thing to say but the fries tasted like those from McDonalds (and that’s NOT a bad thing at all, IMO).

The burger can only be described as “sweet” which is a really unusual thing for a burger. The sweetness is mostly due to the Onion Mostarda. I didn’t even know what a “Mostarda” was until I got into a conversation about it with someone. Turns out it’s an “Italian condiment made of candied fruit and a mustard flavored syrup” (Wikipedia) it doesn’t really taste like mustard and I would go so far as to say you don’t even really taste it all that much. The Mostarda subtly adds a beautiful sweetness that pairs perfectly with the goat cheese and bacon. It’s pretty evident that someone took some good time in dreaming up this combo.

The staff was very friendly and the burgers were all delicious. I ordered mine medium rare and while I understand it’s VERY hard to deliver 20 burgers at the same time at exactly the right temperature, mine was a little overdone. I really like that red juiciness, it’s the only way to really evaluate the quality of the meat. Otherwise my complaints are minimal. The burger club members similarly loved their time here. The only thing many people wanted was MORE, more fries, more cheese, more “oomph” if you know what I mean! This is definitely not a burger to miss. I wish more restaurants would try to put goat cheese on burgers, I know it’s a pretty expensive cheese but people LOVE it!

Thanks to everyone who came, can’t wait for next month! Stay tuned on the facebook group to see where we’re going!! See you then!

Burger News 11/16/2012

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Good burger day everyone!

Last week’s burger club meeting was amazing. We have a newly voted #1 burger – that which is from Hickory Lane (2025 Fairmount Ave)! This burger was some serious business and I implore you to go try it. The cheese.. the meat.. the bun. It was all too perfect. This is a serious burger and should be seriously considered. I feel like it has been under my radar for too long! I’m so happy that the club was able to enjoy it!

Did you hear that at the end of the month we’re having our burger club meeting at Spiga? “What’s Spiga?” you might say.. well it’s a newish Italian restaurant at the corner of 13th and Locust. This whole corner of Philly has undergone a DRASTIC change from yesteryear. You know what I’m talking about. The once seedy corner has done a 180 thanks to the folks from Green Eggs Café and Spiga. Now you may be asking yourself “a burger.. from an Italian restaurant?” it’s just an unexplainable phenomena that can only be resolved by trying the burger. Once this burger hits your lips and the goat cheese and applewood smoked bacon dance around you’ll somehow get it. I did.

Oh and before I forget.. have you heard of BURGERPALOOZA? It’s an all-you-can-eat burger event happening 11/21! Food trucks that will be there: Spot Burgers, Chewys, Street Food Philly and the Moo Truck. This is NOT AN EVENT TO MISS. Obviously these burger trucks know what’s up. You can get your tickets NOW for $29 at any of the participating food trucks (before 11/20). Tickets will be available at the door for $35. Spot burger says this about the event, “Each truck will be offering 3 different 1/4 lb gourmet burger creations, never offered to the public. That’s a dozen different hand-crafted gourmet burger creations. It’s a burger lovers utopia! Yards will be pouring the suds, w/ live music and MORE! Admission, only $35, includes all access pass to ALL U CAN EAT burgers, & 2 drink tickets. Event begins Wednesday November 21, 2012 at Yards Brewery 901 North Delaware Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19123 5-9pm”. Boom. Sounds like a great time. The burger club will be adequately represented. If you’re interested in going with the group, check in on the facebook page to coordinate things.

Alright folks, have a happy holiday! Tell me all about the turkey burgers you make!

October (November?) Meeting: Hickory Lane

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Another month, another Burger Club meeting report from Two Eat Philly.  This meeting was supposed to take place at the tail end of October, but- maybe you heard?- we were hit by a hurricane.  However, burger eaters prevailed (in the first few days of November), and we gathered at Hickory Lane, a small restaurant in Fairmount with great views of Eastern State Penitentiary, and just a few blocks from recently-visited Lemon Hill (shameless self promotion here).

We were greeted by personalized menus made just for us- Hickory Lane created a deal that combined a burger and a drink for $18.  The burger alone ran us $15- definitely on the expensive side for this city!  In comparison to many of the other places Burger Club has congregated, Hickory Lane offers a single signature burger- aptly named the “Hickory Burger.” Executive Chef Matt Zagorski spent many years at Rouge, so he certainly has some solid burger-making experience.

The fact that there was only one option made ordering easy.  Our waiter informed us that the patties were being cooked to a medium rare-medium based on chef preference. Fine by us!  It took a little while before plates started coming out of the kitchen, but we understand the art of burger making is a serious one.

the self-described “bad boy”

The thick meat patty is sandwiched between a challah roll, creating some significant height to this sandwich.  Closer inspection revealed a few light char marks on the outside.  A large pile of pommes frites (why does an “American bistro” insist on using the pretentious French name for fries?) came alongside the burger- I had to clear a few from my plate to make room for burger-tackling.  Super fresh and crispy with plenty of peppery skin- the garlic aioli was a fantastic dipping sauce, if not a little on the greasy side.

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Another thing we noticed right away was the thickness of the cheese.  Melted over the burger, an extra-sharp aged white cheddar added a significant amount of flavor and texture.  I know I’m talking about the cheese before I even talk about the meat, but that’s just how good it was.  It was definitely what everyone was exclaiming about the most- the fact that such a high-quality, flavorful cheese is used here, and so much of it!- really created a unique burger experience.

However, I certainly do need to acknowledge the meat.  A “proprietary” blend of three different cuts of beef are exclusively ground by Philadelphia Meat Purveyor Exceptional Foods just for this burger.  I’d say LaFrieda should be watching their backs- they’ve got some serious competition!  The patty was cooked perfectly to create a nice, thin crust surrounding some seriously pink ground beef.  The grind is still recognizable- these guys are getting treated pretty gently on the grill, providing a nice crumble with each bite.  The meat was underseasoned, allowing the slightly sweet and seriously fluffy challah and salty, aged cheese to play recognizable supporting roles.

Overall, this was definitely a five-star burger.  I’d even go so far to put it amongst the ranks of the Supper burger.  With the ratings coming in, it’s currently scored at a 4.68- good enough for first place on the Leaderboard!

Steph has also announced our meeting place for next (this? Sandy has made this all so confusing) month– but we’ll let her tell you all about it!