Winner: Secret Burger
Restaurant: Alden & Harlow, Cambridge, MA
Sandwich Creator: Chef/owner Michael Scelfo
Inspiration: “To encourage diners to put their trust in the restaurant’s hands and encourage them to throw caution to the wind and try new and interesting flavor combinations.”
Price: $16
Food Cost: $4.64
What the Judges Said: This is not only a great burger, but the folks at Alden have created a terrific and continual buzz surrounding the Secret Burger. Scelfo only makes 30 of them a night. That’s it. If you snooze, you lose. Every night, customers jockey for one of the coveted burgers, which usually sell out by 8 p.m. It’s a genius idea because exclusivity creates demand. The idea behind it all might grow stale, but Scelfo keeps it fresh by frequently changing ingredients on the burger. The one we tried was a combination of brisket, short rib and beef plate (a cut near the belly). It was put on a house-baked bun and topped with an anchovy-spiked “secret sauce,” Little Gem Lettuce, salted onions, bread and butter pickles and an aged cheddar cheese frico (tuile). Dammmmmn! We would never encourage you to steal the recipe for this burger (who’s going to stop you), but we highly recommend that you steal the marketing concept.
Honorable Mentions:
• Foie Gras Burger, SoBou, New Orleans
• Bistro Burger, The Wildflower, Saint Louis
• H & R Burger, Hog & Rocks, San Francisco
• Green Chile Bison Burger, Kachina Southwestern Grill, Westminster, CO
• Smoke Burger, Fielding’s Wood Grill, Woodlands, TX
• House Burger, Chomp Kitchen & Drinks, Warren, RI
• Wood-Grilled Burger with Kimchee, E&O Kitchen & Bar, San Francisco
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