The Burger Bash was held at the Tobacco Warehouse, literally underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. The Tobacco Warehouse is an outside/inside type set-up. Essentially a hallowed out warehouse with the Brooklyn Bridge acting as a roof. And on this balmy night it was simply beautiful. I entered into a huge tent onto a dance floor/seating area where I was greeted by a band playing cover songs. The band was decent but it felt like I had walked into a wedding, an awesome burger wedding! The tent had lights illuminating the ceiling with colors and Blue Moon logos and vendors at the end serving drinks. I spent a few minutes taking it all in and then it hit me, the smell of the grills. I made my way to the far end of the tent where it opened up and there it was: a land of sizzling grills spitting fire and smoke. People were wandering in every direction around the grills looking, taking pictures and stopping every foot or so to take a bite of whatever burger they had picked up. It was hard to navigate and at first I couldn't make sense of it all. Where do I start??
I should probably mention I was working, taking photos of the event for the photo agency I shoot for. Anna and Bex weren't able to accompany me to the sold out event. So it wasn't an official BCNY outing. Which is too bad because I felt overwhelmed when I got there. I was told I would only have 30 minutes inside to get my photos and bring the pass out for other media. So I had to move with a purpose. Not ideal but I had to take it.
Anyway, I snapped out of my open mouth smile and got to grabbing some shots. I made my way through the crowded narrow walkways that separated each booth, but by that time Rachael Ray had taken the stage with Lee Brian Schrager, founder of the NY Wine and Food Festival and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. So I had to postpone my burger exploring. There were a couple speeches and Marty Markowitz proclaimed the day, Rachael Ray Day..or something. I wasn't sure but there was a big document like one of those over sized checks that said "Proclamation" across it. After that it was time for Rachael and Co. to make the burger rounds.
I stuck with Rachael and entourage which included her husband John Cusimano, Lee Schrager, and various other assistants. As "we" made our way through the crowded venue Rachael would stop at each booth, talk to the chef and try a burger. Every once in awhile bumping into a fellow celeb like chef Guy Fieiri or an NFL player she was buddy buddy with like Nick Mangold of the NJ Jets. Random but awesome. I talked to Nick for a second. He was incredibly nice and was enjoying one of Bobby Flay's burgers. Though it looked like a slider in his hands. Actually, maybe it was.
Each booth wasn't serving up full burgers, which made sense. They would either cut the burger into quarters or like in the case of Dumont, make mini sliders. Personally I liked the sliced method. So Rachael and her husband would share each burger making sure not to fill up. I mean there were 17 burger joints competing. I also thought it was interesting that Rachael would try a piece of the meat sans bread and toppings. This continued at each burger booth. And as much fun as it was having to politely nudge my way through the crowd to get my shots I felt it was time to break away and see what I could for myself.
This is where I really wish BCNY as a whole would have been there. We could have come up with a plan of attack. But at this point I was feeling the time pressure and I was starving. So I had to grab what I could. I tried a Wildwood Barbeque slider which was good but wasn't my style with the all the barbeque sauce. Honestly I don't really remember it. I also grabbed a Shake Shack burger. I know, like I've never had one before. But THERE WAS NO LINE! It was awesome, of course. I tried the Wollensky's Grill burger and was surprised with that one. I'd like to try it again and see how it compares to a Peter Lugers. After that I wanted to try something I had never heard of and I found myself at the booth of Kyle Huebbe. He was the only chef not representing a restaurant. Apparently Kyle had won a previous burger contest held by Brooklyn Paper which earned him a booth at the Burger Bash. His burger definitely had that personal touch. Maybe it was the bread. I seem to remember it was like flat-bread.
At one point I was approached by some cheerleaders who were cheering for Spike Mendelsohn's burger in front of Good Stuff Eatery. I gabbed some photos but forgot to grab a burger. "Big mistake. Huge." Apparently Spike ended up winning the Burger Bash. I've been kicking myself over that. Oh well, I guess BCNY will have to give the Good Stuff Eatery a try for ourselves.
Well that's it. It was a whirlwind of a burger experience and though I wish I could have done a better job reviewing the burgers it was still awesome. BCNY will definitely make it a top priority of 2010. But before that we now have a list of burgers to check out. Hopefully we'll be invited next year because it's a little expensive. Did I mention tickets for this sold out extravaganza were $200?
Roger rates the Burger Bash:
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