Roving Burger Reviews from our Guest Reporter:
the Original db Burger at db bistro moderne
the Original db Burger at db bistro moderne
Have you been up late at night, wondering how Daniel Boulud would reimagine a hamburger? Or perhaps fretting that Wall Street Burger Shoppe is the only venue where you can get a burger for above $100?
Lucky you!
FOBS (Friend of the Burger Series) Roving Burger Reporter Patrick "Truffle Fries" Gardella was on call this week to provide a thorough analysis of a worthy entrant in the "Extreme Gourmet" category.
Patrick's review:
The Original db Burger
55 West 44th Street (btw 5th and Ave of the Americas)
what we love: the melding of so many flavors in a juicy burger
what we could live without: The cost, the roasted red pepper and the foie gras
burger scale: A/A-
price range: expense account
payment method: The expense account
Thanks to our VP of Sales, we had the excuse to enjoy a fine dinner with our of our favorite clients and visit Daniel Boulud's db Bisto Moderne. I took it upon myself, at the urging of a Burger Series member, to sample the "original db Burger".
Along with the other burger purists, I have a hard time really calling this a burger. At the risk of denigrating this wonderful burger, its more of a turducken (a chicken, stuffed in a duck, stuffed in a turkey). They start with a piece of foie gras, and wrap around it ground braised shortribs with shaved black truffles, and then wrap that in ground sirloin. It's all served on a parmesan bun, with frisée, and what looked like a dijon mustard. Oddly enough, they added what was about half of a roasted red pepper on the bottom. (Not being a fan of red peppers, which overwhelm the taste of just about anything they touch, I removed it.)
There was some debate among the rest of the people at the table on whether this was a burger that should be eaten with a knife and fork, or with both hands, as its around four inches thick. The meat makes up easily half of that, as you can see from the pictures. One gripe I had was that it was cut in half in the kitchen. I'm sure that was to showcase the ingredients, but I prefer my burgers unmolested. If I want it cut, I'll cut it.
Ignoring the debate going on around me, I just grabbed a half and took a bite. The flavors just jumped out on the first bite. The shortribs, as you might expect, were the most flavorful part, but you could still detect the sirloin, which was cooked to an only slightly over done medium rare. It was juicy enough, but not overwhelmingly so. (I'll need to hand wash my shirt to get the stains out, but it was only two drops.) I was concerned that the burger would fall apart like I'd had a few days before at another restaurant. It didn't really. The foie gras fell out on a later bit, but I was able to spear it with a fork and get it back in place. It didn't add much to the flavor, but it did provide an interesting diversion in textures. And the black truffles? Had I not known they were in there, I wouldn't have been able to tell. Unlike the fries at 5 Napkins, and their clear truffle flavor, here it was blended with the others. In all honesty, I could have gone with the Deluxe version which has a thick layer of shaved truffles on top, or the super Deluxe with two layers. But that would have pushed the bounds of sanity, even on an expense account, as the costs were $75 and $150 respectively.
The burger was so good that I didn't even touch the fries until it was gone. The others at the table were tasting the fries while I was eating the burger. The fries come with a very nice dijon mustard, ketchup and a horseradish mayo. The last was by far the most popular. It had just a hint of horseradish, but enough to give it some good flavor. When I finally got to the fries, they were going cold, but they were still crisp and tender on the inside, just like I like them.
To give you an idea about what others thought of the fries, they neglected their own meals to steal them from me. Which was fine, since there was no way I could finish them all. And the talk around the table was on the quality of the fries and the mayo, instead of their own very good coq a vin, salmon and other entrees. That says a lot.
Summary:
I'd go back. It was a very good burger, ranking up there in my mind with some of the best I've had. My most recent point of comparison was a 5 Napkins burger a few weeks before, which I would take over the db Burger, but only slightly. I'm a sucker for caramelized onions and gruyere cheese (and blue, and cheddar, and…). For the purist, just set aside that this is a burger and call it a meat sandwich. Then enjoy.
