Archive for December, 2010

Blue 9 Burger hits Upper East Side

by Jonathan on December 29, 2010 in New Joints, Places, Reviews with No comments

Boy it has been a few days since I have posted anything, but here is what is going on. I am planning on meeting and shooting some footage for the film starting January. It has been exciting getting things ready for the shoot. I have been planning and researching quite a bit.

On my way home from New Jersey this week after the snow hit hard, I was in a Cab and quite hungry. I will tell you a commute from New Jersey to New York and then a cab all the way to the UES sure makes me hungry. After a day full of driving and commuting there is nothing like coming back to the city and enjoying a hamburger! I was really crazing one, after all its been a few days.

When I arrived back in my apartments Sarah and I checked SeamlessWeb for our burger choices. High up on the alphabetical list was Blue 9 Burger, which at first I thought was a mistake. Seamless often has catering options that appear but are not actual restaurant options. However this in-fact was not a mistake. We ordered the Fries and drink combo which is very well priced. I ordered the Blue 9 Burger which is a double cheese burger, I added the firecracker style which is grilled chili sauce, lettuce and tomato. Now I know any burger aficionado would cringe when adding a spicy flavor to distract from the flavor of the meat. I was worried the burger would be dry and boring and would need this sauce. I was wrong and in fact enjoyed the burger more than I had imagined.

The Burger and fries arrived luke warm, but hey there is snow on the ground and burgers don’t travel well. I understand that. I was very surprised when I took a bite out of the burger and it was actually pretty flavorful. The meat was surprisingly tasty and had a unique flavor, I would say very similar to Fresh N Fast, which makes me believe they maybe receive their meat from Master Purveyors. The fries were not very crispy and pretty saggy, now I am not sure if this was as a result of being delivered or if in general they are like this. They are served with a mango chili sauce that had a nice kick to it.

Blue 9 Burger has quite good reviews on Yelp, SeamlessWeb, and was Rated Best Budget burger by Time out New York in 2010.

For the price and convenience of delivery especially on a cold snowy day, I would highly recommend this location. I also would give them a shot if you have had a previously bad experience at any other Blue 9 Location.

Support Burgerlution!

by Jonathan on December 13, 2010 in Burgerlution, Support Us! with 1 Comment

Support the Film Burgerlution via our new Cafepress custom T-Shirts with our logo! Visit our store.

You can support us via Cafepress, we get a partial percentage of the sales, but more importantly it will spark interest about the film! The other way you can support us is via Paypal, we have a button on the bottom right of the page. Any companies that wish to host any ads or provide any donations please use the contact form and we would be happy to discuss this! Visit our store.
Thanks for your Support!

Porterhouse: It’s What’s for dinner.

by Jonathan on December 9, 2010 in Cooking, Grocery, Places with No comments

In an effort to learn more about meat and different cuts, my brother has bought me “Lobel’s Meat Bible” for the holidays. I have been reading it and following the explanations of the cuts of Beef. I also have been watching videos of various butchers cutting down the cow and getting to these cuts. The process is very interesting and being that this is what I was doing all day yesterday, I decided do get a Porterhouse for dinner. I live right near Eli’s Vinegar Factory, which has a beautiful Butcher shop as well as a aging room for beef!  I purchase a nice porterhouse which the friendly butcher cut down to size for me.

This is how I prepare my Porterhouse for use on my cast iron:

1. Sprinkle Salt (I prefer sea salt) on the meat, and let it come to room temperature.

2. Pat dry the meat after coming to room temperature, not much should have come out.

3. Pat on some olive oil and grind some black pepper and rub it into the steak.

4. Get the cast iron hot!

5. Preheat oven to 375.

6. 3 Minutes per side on the cast iron (don’t touch the meat let it cook!).

7. Place in the oven for 7-9 minutes (my oven is pretty bad so closer to 9)

8. LET IT REST (5 Mins, if you have a rack use it!) after it reaches your temperature of choice. I prefer Rare.

New Burgers close to home…

by Jonathan on December 5, 2010 in New Joints with No comments

A new Burger place showed up on my SeamlessWeb account. BurgerZone has been a spot that I have often passed by while walking around in the neighborhood (UES). I  kept forgetting about this place until it appeared in my SeamlessWeb page. So one late night after class I decided to give it a shot. At first Sarah and I didn’t realize why the burgers did not have any cheese options. Until I realized this is a kosher restaurant and as by jewish law, the mixture of meat and cheese is forbidden. Also keep in mind in order for meat to be kosher, it must be slaughtered and butchered following jewish law. This includes removing all Blood, which is also forbidden to eat by jewish law. These processes often disrupt the normal taste of a hamburger.

If you are interested in having a Kosher Cheeseburger, head to Talia’s Steakhouse, also on the Upper East Side, they offer a Soy/Tofu cheese option, which has stirred up some controversy in the Kosher community.

Burger: Not too bad, it was definitely cooked Well done. Definitely no blood or tasty juices, the burgers do however come with a dressing of choice and toppings that help disguise the plain burger.

Fries: I wouldn’t say that they were bad, but they were certainly not the best fries I have ever had. They were average.

I would say that BurgerZone is an average place, If I was eating only kosher food it would probably be exceptional, but since I am not I would suggest heading down the street to Shake Shack or Ottomanelli Bros. for a real hamburger.

Is a Salmon Burger a REAL Burger?

by Jonathan on December 1, 2010 in Cooking, Fake Hamburgers with No comments

In an effort to keep my palate eclectic and keep my appreciate for burgers, I had a Dill Salmon burger tonight. The salmon burgers I cooked tonight were from Whole Foods (Union Square). I pan fried them, placed them on sesame buns, with sliced avocado. Cooking a salmon burger is a different process than cooking a regular hamburger as the salmon is so lean it doesn’t cook the same way. The burger barely sizzles, nothing comes out of the burger, cooking it is more like heating it than cooking it. They burger doesn’t quite taste the same, it makes you ready to eat a burger but right as you take a bite it deceives you. The lean to fat ratio is just non existent.

So I pose the questions…. Is a Salmon Burger a real hamburger? Do you eat a salmon burger as a Hamburger replacement? What other hamburger variations do you enjoy?

New Burger on the Block?

by Jonathan on December 1, 2010 in New Joints, Places with 1 Comment

It has come to my attention that a new specialty Burger restaurant is opening on 14th Street. I walked by this place last week on my way to work, wondering what this place is all about. Again today I stumbled in front of this new location on my way to work.

So what is it all about?

Well it is called Elevation Burger and according to there website the official address is 103 West 14th Street (Sixth Ave).

About the Meat:

  • Organic Grass Fed Burgers.
  • Ground on premises
  • Free Range
  • Use 100% Olive Oil

The  Chain:

  • They Utilize renewing, non-polluting materials and surfaces, bamboo flooring, as well as other environmentally friendly materials.

For a Nationwide chain these are quite the credentials.

I will have a review up as soon as they open, hopefully if it’s a good place it will be my go-to place when I am at work.