[Photographs: Damon Gambuto]

So Robyn already gave the quick heads up that the venerable meat purveyor Pat La Frieda had, at long last, made a deal to supply a California restaurant. The lucky eatery is Burger Kitchen here in Los Angeles, which I reviewed prior to the deal. As you might imagine, this is a huge coup for an aspiring burger restaurateur and worth a little attention. Certainly Burger Kitchen wasn't the first to make their case to Pat Jr., but I guess he felt that the timing was right to go all the way West (La Frieda already sends some of their goods to Las Vegas).

This is an exciting prospect for Angelenos generally, and for me specifically. I was lucky enough to dine with Pat Jr. at Minetta Tavern in New York to try his storied Black Label blend along with the regular Minetta burger, plus a côte de boeuf that was so good I teared up when I had my first bite. I not only love the products La Frieda sells, I also happen to really like the man himself.

I already reviewed Burger Kitchen so this time around owner Alan Saffron invited me to try some complimentary burgers made with the new blends. He was understandably defensive when we met, as my review was, shall we say, less than favorable. Alas, I wasn't alone in my dissatisfaction as evidenced from the comment thread and the reviews generally.

Saffron has updated the menu to now have 36 different burger combinations and, of course, offers the option to swap out a regular patty for one from La Frieda for an extra $2. Then there's their big ticket burger called "The Natural" made of a dry-aged La Frieda blend that will run you $29.

You can immediately tell the difference between the standard blend and the dry-aged when looking at the raw meat. The dry-aged has a muted pink color rather than the deeper red of the regular ground beef. Of course, you can also taste the difference with the pronounced funkiness that comes with a dry-aging. The addition of a La Frieda patty greatly improves the standard offerings of Burger Kitchen.

I happen to really enjoy the dry-aged blends that Pat Jr. has come up with, but I also understand why some folks (even our own Adam Kuban) can feel like it's too strong a flavor for an everyday burger. Further, a $29 price tag will always make a burger harder to swallow.

La Frieda has arranged to put our (way out) West Coast delivery on the truck that had previously been making its final stop in Vegas. Once Sin City gets their allotment, the remaining supply heads to Los Angeles. Right now Burger Kitchen is getting about 300 or so pounds of ground beef delivered each week so there is plenty to go around for Angeleno's to taste New York's legendary beef.