Burger Night is looking for a cook. No experience necessary. Will train. Must have fun. Must be punctual. Must love burgers. Ideal candidate lives in Minneapolis.
Needed for a handful of parties/events this summer, maybe more.
Fair wage. Free burgers. Get to cook outside, meet peoples.
Send an email telling why you want to party with Burger Night.
Please spread the word to loved ones who might be interested in a little extra summer cash and fun.
Thanks!
john@burgernight.me
A few months back someone posted a spreadsheet listing pizza places in the Twin Cities and pertinent details- locations, phone numbers, website links. I’m guessing this was on Heavy Table but I couldn’t find a link to the story, so here’s a direct link to the Pizza Places in the Twin Cities.
Of course this begged the question: why do we not have a Twin Cities Burger Spreadsheet- a simple, wondrous reference for local hamburger hunting. Why doesn’t every major metropolitan area have one? Well, here’s to fixing our little piece of that nonsense.
This is the initial compilation of our Twin Cities Burger Spreadsheet. Included are burger lover type details such as patty weight, thickness and cooking method. There are some holes and likely some places that have been overlooked. This is fully editable, so please help to make this an exhaustive list. Because it would be so cool if it was.
Love,
Burger Night
Burger Night
Mpls, MN
November 12th, 2011
Temp: 63ºF
Clear skies
Naturally, an outdoor burger celebration was in order. Likely the last of the season.
Made a chili paste with soaked cascabel and ancho peppers and toasted garlic.
How about on a burger?
Well, let’s just say it pretty much rounded out a beautiful afternoon.
I heard about Nick’s Hamburger Shop from a hamburger authority who suggested that they may have the best hamburger buns in the country. This was over a year ago, and I was in the market for a weekend road trip, so it was time I check it out.
About four hours from the Twin Cities and just over the state line is the well equipped college town of Brookings, SD. Nick’s was pretty easy to spot once you got to the main drag.
I asked the girl who was serving a perpetually full horseshoe counter, if the buns come from a local bakery. She stood strong and replied that the buns are a secret recipe and that the bakery where they’re made is also a secret. Fair enough. Mystery is alluring, I get it.
I don’t want to rant on about my thoughts on what a hamburger bun should be, but I will say that the distinguishing trait about Nick’s buns, that is rarely found in others, is that they have a slightly dense chewiness to them- still fluffy, plain and unobtrusive but carrying a character all their own.
The hamburgers themselves are pretty unremarkable. I’m guessing the patties are about 2.5 oz. of obviously lean ground beef. They’re cooked in a similar fashion to the poached burgers at Pete’s in Prarie du Chein, WI; on a closed griddle in about half an inch of water/grease.
Nick’s
Pete’s
Both Pete’s and Nick’s use fresh beef and cook the patties through, but Pete’s hamburgers are wet and juicy, and Nick’s are dry and uninspiring.
But I would definitely go back to Nick’s. Why? Because of the distinct character. The lack of any background music. The fact that Nick’s Hamburger Shop is just one big horseshoe counter seating 30-35 people with the burger show right in the middle. The classic paper tissue instead of a plate, a la Matt’s Bar. And of course, to break the record of 34 hamburgers in 90 minutes. Child’s play.
Only an hour and a half from Nick’s is the also famed Hamburger Inn in Sioux Falls, SD. An even smaller space than Nick’s, it was empty when we arrived on Saturday, just after noon. A single strip of maybe eight stools facing the griddle, fryer and two white, craigslist looking residential refrigerators.
Opening the front door interupted an intimate and solemn viewing party of the 1997 Tom Selleck/Kevin Kline (not so)hit, In and Out. A considerate, young counter girl and a seasoned griddleman tore themselves away from the 10” TV/VCR combo- adjusted with a protruding piece of cardboard taped to the top to eliminate glare from the flourescent lights. They kindly hopped into action as the quirks began showing themselves- a stack of VHS tapes, mostly semi-modern romances(She’s All That, Save the Last Dance, etc.)under the counter. A sign above the refrigerator with a handwritten amendment that ensures, “Soup of the Day: Chili… always”. It felt like The Weinery without the spacious kitchen, seating area or the urban self awareness.
The burgers were beyond solid- Eggburgers are their signature(just a fried egg on top). A high heat griddle gave the burgers, and well toasted buns, a great crunch. I wish this place was down the street.
After I walked out I noticed this sign in the window:
So if you know a hamburger lover/restauranteur with Sioux Falls connections, a great opportunity awaits.
It was about a year ago that I went on a midwest burger adventure. One of the true highlights was the Butter Burger at Solly’s Grille in Milwaukee, WI.
On the road, six hours after leaving the laminate horseshoe counter, I could still feel the smoothness, and taste the richness of the real Wisconsin butter on my lips. This is after stopping for a Coke and some candy.
Not currently possessing the wherewithal to repeat a trip to Milwaukee, and since I’ve been considering offering a butter burger, I thought I’d work it out on the griddle.
I started with the standard fried onion hamburger and American cheese. I used Hope Butter from Hope, MN. If I remember correctly, onions aren’t on the standard at Solly’s… nuts to that.
…and flip.
Goodness.
Solly’s adds the butter to the top of the burger just before serving. Legend has it, the trick to enjoying a Solly’s Butter Burger is to eat it before all the butter melts. I concur. The slightly cool contrast of a dab of butter in a bite of burger is total mouth dynamite. So adding butter at the end of the cooking process seems a given. However, the steamed bun/slider technique poses difficulties in removing the top bun after the cheese has melted. So initially I tried the butter on bottom. I used about a tablespoon of butter.
The flavor of the onions mixed with the flavor of the butter. They lost their distinct appealing natures. Also, most of the butter just soaked in the bottom bun, so I didn’t get to taste it.
Then I thought, difficulties be damned. I’m going to rip the top bun off the melted cheese of the next one and try it right… and with more butter.
Oh, two tablespoons or so.
That’s some nice glistening. It was much better. The geography of the butter is coincidentally right where it was on the palette- right on top. Imagine all the good flavor of a cheeseburger being happily subordinate to rich, creamy butter. It was almost as if the flavor of the cheese and onions got in the way, or perhaps simply weren’t necessary.
Therefore, Effort #3, a plain hamburger with butter.
Probably about two tablespoons of butter, maybe a little more.
That’s what I’m talking about. The butter melted on top of the beef fat and they mixed together. The cheese and onions weren’t missed, and the beef butter dipping sauce on the plate pretty much capped off what was another very pleasant weekend in Minneapolis.
