Expensive hamburgers are nothing new. Daniel Boulud famously broke the $20 mark with his foie gras and truffle-stuffed behemoth at New York’s DB Bistro Moderne in 2001, and chefs have come up with countless high-ticket iterations since. Boston has seen its share of pricy patties over the years — Bristol Lounge’s $21 burger, Radius’s $19 version. But of late the species has begun to proliferate. Back Bay Social Club and Towne Stove and Spirits, both of which opened this summer, serve $21 burgers. The Butcher Shop, KO Prime, and Craigie on Main offer $18 burgers. In fact, Craigie on Main may be largely responsible for the phenomenon. The burger served at the restaurant’s bar has received so much attention it broke the glass ceiling for burgers. Now all patties expect equal pay.
A burger is only a burger - except when it's a steak
Prime cuts, fancy fixings, house-made buns turn this favorite into a luxury
Why does a $20 burger cost $20? Chefs cite the quality of the meat, the custom blend, the perfect bun, the love and time and attention lavished on this humble sandwich.
Case study: Back Bay Social Club. Its burger was months in the making. Executive chef Timothy Raines and William Kinnealey, of meat wholesaler William & Co., worked closely together to find the magic formula. They went on burger-eating expeditions to New York, where they sampled the versions at Minetta Tavern, the Breslin, and other spots known for their burgers. Many of these patties are made from special blends of meat created by New York wholesaler Pat LaFrieda, which makes its Black Label blend from dry-aged beef. Raines and Kinnealey wanted to do something similar.
Back in Boston, they went to Kinnealey’s Newmarket Square facility. “We walked through the dry-age room, picking up things we thought would grind really well,’’ Raines says by phone. “We tried at least 20 different varieties, with more of this, less of that, different percentages. We also messed around with different coarseness of grind.’’ The exact details of the final blend are a secret, but Raines shares the basics: Back Bay Social Club’s burger is made entirely from dry-aged beef. The biggest percentage of it is prime rib, with added short rib, flank, and skirt for texture.
The meat is ground for the restaurant each morning and delivered every afternoon. They sear the patties to medium-rare on a flat-top griddle that goes to 600 degrees, using plenty of clarified butter, to get a good crust on both sides of the burger.
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