A Hamburger Today
A Super-Juicy Burger at Clinton Street Baking Co.
[Photographs: Carey Jones]
Clinton Street Baking Co.
4 Clinton Street, New York NY 10002 (map); 646-602-6263
Cooking Method: Grilled
Short Order: A super-sloppy burger (in a good way) made sloppier by the addition of caramelized onions and fully melted cheese.
Want Fries with That? The burger comes with excellent fresh-fried, paper-thin chips.
Price: Burger from the menu, $14; burger and a beer, Mon-Thu, 6-8pm, $12
My meals at Clinton Street Baking Co. had, until recently, been strictly of the brunch variety. And when I suck it up and wait two hours for my first meal of the day, I'm going for the pancakes or the buttermilk biscuit sandwich. But when I stopped by for dinner recently—almost unable to recognize the room half-empty—I noticed the $12 burger-and-beer special, offered Monday through Thursday, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Though the beer selection wasn't particularly extensive, I was quite pleased with my German Bitburger (fitting, no?), surprisingly bitter for such a blonde wheat beer. A worthy counterpart for the burger to follow.
The autopsy shot--after the jump.
I have no problem with rare burgers, when I order them. Sometimes I don't have a problem with rare burgers when I don't order them. But this was a few shades closer to cow than the medium-rare I ordered. The gentlemen at the table next to me seemed to have the same reaction. "Dude," one said, lifting the top bun from his burger. "Mine's, like, beef tartare."
But the burger could take it. The salty, juicy beef was so fresh-tasting I wouldn't want it cooked much longer. With smoky caramelized onions, stewed almost to the point of dissolution, fully melted cheese, and burger drippings galore, this was a delightful, sloppy mess. The brioche bun didn't taste too much like one—sesame-studded, it wasn't sweet at all—and was just the right size to soak up all the juices without dissolving completely. My one complaint? Hardly any char. But with such a flavorful burger, it was hard to mind.