There are many seriously delicious bacon cheeseburgers to be had in New York City, especially of the fancy-pants variety, but rarely have I seen a cheeseburger as well put together as the stylish beauty Joey Campanaro is serving at The Little Owl.
Let me break down Campanaro's burger for you in loving and admiring detail:
It is made from fresh, not aged, short rib and brisket from Manhattan's uber-meat purveyor Pat La Freida Meats (of Black Label fame). There is a little too much of this supremely juicy and flavorful meat for my taste—it's eight ounces—but in this case Campanaro makes the big ol' mound of beef work.
The cheese, as you can tell, is a veritable blanket of good aged cheddar.
The bacon is maple-cured and just smoky enough. Bacon maximalists might quibble with the amount of bacon on the burger, but those people are just being silly. There is just the right amount of bacon on this burger.
The pickle is a fine half-sour from Guss' Pickles. Mine was a little mushy but still managed to cut through the supreme meatiness of the beef, which is what a pickle on a burger plate should do.
The first-rate, properly twice-cooked fries come seasoned (with a perfectly fine but unnecessary seasoning blend) unless you ask for yours plain. Do just that and then sprinkle some of the good Maldon sea salt Campanaro puts on all the tables.
The house-made bun, however, is what propels Campanaro's burger to mythical, hall-of-fame status. It is a bigger version of the focaccialike bun he uses on his supremely delicious meatball slider appetizer, sans Romano cheese and rosemary. The magical bun soaks up the burger's juices right on cue, and it is soft and tender while having just the right amount of slightly chewy exterior. It puts the ubiquitous brioche bun found on many of the city's fine fancy-pants burgers to shame.
I know that extolling the virtues of another burger and mentioning the possibility that it might be the best in New York merely adds to the ridiculous amount of "best burger" white noise we are all exposed to and contribute to, but, damn, the Little Owl Burger is good. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
It's the same blend as the Market Table burger, but the bun, as Ed points out, makes all the difference in the world. Sledneck, go for 50/50 to start and adjust from there.
Seems like this burger should be eaten upside down. the bottom part of the bun looks too thin to soak up all the juice spilling out the meat. Don't get me wrong here, the burger looks fantastic especially knowing all the ingredients are of the finest quality.
Color me disappointed that TLO was closed for our burger lunch. Sigh. Still... great fun with the AHT crew. Nice review (as usual), Ed. I will look forward to one of these when I'm next in NYC.
As I mentioned in earlier blog thi is the best burger I had in amonth long stay in NYC in May. Beat out Minetta Tavern, Shake Shack, Corner Bistro Dresslers and Burger Place. Leave the bacon off with the quality of the beef and the great bun the bacon is a distraction.
I agree - this is the best burger I've had in NYC - although I'm also a huge fan of Shake Shack for the lower price range option. And Little Owl is just a lovely place to eat all round. I included it in my top NYC eats "round up" after my trip last month.
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There are many seriously delicious bacon cheeseburgers to be had in New York City, especially of the fancy-pants variety, but rarely have I seen a cheeseburger as well put together as the stylish beauty Joey Campanaro is serving at The Little Owl. 
9 Comments:
How does it compare to Market Table's burger?
--Guttergourmet
guttergour at 11:52AM on 01/02/09
That is one of the best autopsy/burgerporn shots I have seen!
Chris W / St. Louis
chevalier at 1:21PM on 01/02/09
If i were to ground up my own what would be a good shortrib/brisket ratio?
sledneck at 2:06PM on 01/02/09
It's the same blend as the Market Table burger, but the bun, as Ed points out, makes all the difference in the world. Sledneck, go for 50/50 to start and adjust from there.
Mr_Cutlets at 5:15PM on 01/02/09
Seems like this burger should be eaten upside down. the bottom part of the bun looks too thin to soak up all the juice spilling out the meat. Don't get me wrong here, the burger looks fantastic especially knowing all the ingredients are of the finest quality.
gsd96rk1 at 1:42AM on 01/03/09
Joey Campanaro makes great hamburgers too?! They look delicious. He is so talented. I've been a huge fan of Joey since we filmed a truffle segment with him for Behind the Burner. http://video.behindtheburner.com/video/Tantalizing-Truffles-by-Joey-C-2
CarolineAlexa at 11:50AM on 01/03/09
Color me disappointed that TLO was closed for our burger lunch. Sigh. Still... great fun with the AHT crew. Nice review (as usual), Ed. I will look forward to one of these when I'm next in NYC.
Damon Gambuto at 11:57PM on 01/04/09
As I mentioned in earlier blog thi is the best burger I had in amonth long stay in NYC in May. Beat out Minetta Tavern, Shake Shack, Corner Bistro Dresslers and Burger Place. Leave the bacon off with the quality of the beef and the great bun the bacon is a distraction.
donald keys at 4:49PM on 07/16/09
I agree - this is the best burger I've had in NYC - although I'm also a huge fan of Shake Shack for the lower price range option. And Little Owl is just a lovely place to eat all round. I included it in my top NYC eats "round up" after my trip last month.
Greedy Diva (www.greedydiva.blogspot.com) at 10:02AM on 12/15/09