A Nontraditional Pub Burger at Tanuki Tavern in the Meatpacking District

Posted by Nick Solares, February 16, 2010 at 11:00 AM

Have some tanuki with your burger. [Photographs: Nick Solares]

Tanuki Tavern is the latest venture from prolific and oft maligned restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow. Chodorow rose to prominence in the food world for his various fusion restaurants starting with China Grill and Asia De Cuba followed by a string of more narrowly defined and less successful restaurants, such as Kobe Club, Wild Salmon, and the dreadfully named English Is Italian (all now defunct). But that is being parochial. China Grill Management runs China Grills and other restaurants in 11 cities including London, Miami, and Mexico City—they're as much a measure of success as stars from reviewers.

If you're not familiar with his restaurants, you may know Chodorow from his appearance on the pioneering reality TV program The Restaurant. Things didn't end well for the venture, although it did make for some amusing television. Despite his obvious casting as a foil to Rocco DiSpirito, I found him to be the more likable character. He has a certain swashbuckling attitude that I appreciate.

This cavalier-ism was nowhere more apparent than his feud with New York Times critic Frank Bruni. When Bruni gave a less than positive review to Kobe Club, Chodorow took out a full page ad, at considerable personal expense, in the paper to refute it. I must admit I was tempted to slam the Tanuki burger for that reason alone—we could sure use the ad revenue around here. But I actually like both Tanuki and the burger they serve.

The Tanuki Tavern burger is an 8-ounce patty from Pat La Frieda that is griddle cooked and served an a wholly admirable potato roll from Eli's. The beef is a blend containing 10% aged brisket, 30% prime brisket, and 60% prime chuck. Although the dry aged component is only be a small percentage of the blend—it's not as intense as LaFrieda's Black Label blend—there's enough to enhance the patty with a musky flavor and an all around beefiness. The burger has a 70/30 meat-to-fat ratio and remains juicy even when cut open, which is just as well as it's served quartered, doubtlessly to make sharing with three supermodels easier.

I didn't have any supermodels on hand when I tried it and I assumed it would be better served whole, so I ordered it that way. I was wrong. The bun—its commendable qualities aside (and there are many)—is just a bit too tall when wrapped around the buxom patty. When quartered, it is far easier to consume by flipping the burger sideways, the way one might when eating a club sandwich. This is admittedly turning the traditional mode of consumption on its head, but no more so than what comes on top the patty: a fusion version of "special" sauce with kimchi relish substituted for the pickle.

It's not exactly traditional, but, then again, you're in an izakaya (if you want traditional you should be in Bill's Bar & Burger located just across the street). I almost considered ordering the burger without the relish, but I had already asked the chef to leave the burger uncut and I didn't want offend him further. Also, I know that the Chodorows have around 2,000 samurai swords left over from the shuttered Kobe Club. I had visions of the chef bursting through the doors with one in hand, samurai delicatessen style.

The kimchi is actually not overpowering and does add a certain tanginess that compliments the steely character of the beef and some acidity to cut the copious fat. Having said that, the burger doesn't really need it; served plain on the bun, it makes a fine example of a pub burger.

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Tags: AHT reviews, Meatpacking District, NYC, reviews, Tanuki Tavern