Brunch at Montmartre in New York, NY

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Going to brunch with friends is always exciting. Not only because of the pleasure to see them, but also because we always try to make it a culinary experience. So, this time, we went to Montmartre, a French restaurant located in Chelsea, after our friend Gary read an article in NY Magazine that said that they had the best burger in town. Now, that's a statement and I could not wait to go there. 

If you never went to Paris, know that Montmartre is one of the famous areas there. Located on a hill, and topped by the Sacré Coeur basilica, it was the place where many artists like Salvador Dalí, Modigliani, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh, had studios. Today, you can still see painters, but I admit that it is becoming mostly a touristy place, losing a bit of its charm.

So, the restaurant, that had been opened for more than one and a half year by Gabriel Stulman, is an ode to French cuisine...minus the burger..., but not only. There, Chef Tien Ho crafted a menu on its own, interpreting dishes with a French flair. For instance, the chicken and waffles becomes the poulet and pain perdu; and then the burger. 

Yes, it is not you regular burger, but more like a sandwich version of it, the bun being replaced by two slices of bread, grilled similar to a grilled cheese, and a béarnaise cheese, that is a fusion between béarnaise sauce and a cheese sauce, smothering the patty made of dry aged beef.

It looked very appetizing. The first bite was just bread as the shape of the patty did not espouse the shape of the bread.

The meat, perfectly cooked medium was juicy. However, it was no match to the one at 5 Napkin Burger, being less tasty.

The béarnaise cheese was a nice twist though and there was a nice amount of it.

Served with the burger were fries that were delicious: skin on, they were lightly salted and a bit crispy.

Jodi ordered the omelette:

Served with toast and some baby lettuce, it was filled with lots of oyster mushrooms, leeks and goat cheese. That was a very good omelette, not only because of the delicious filling, but also because the eggs were perfectly cooked, soft and not dry.

For dessert, they proposed us the clémentine pot de crème that was succulent.

 Nice presentation with the bowl matching the color of the clémentine. I liked it: they added some macadamia nuts for crunch and I really liked the fact that it was not too sweet, was fresh, making it the perfect Summer dessert.

For beverages, I, of course, got some espresso (yes, it is a double...):

And a fresh squeezed orange juice that was just ok, tasting a bit watered down.

Even if I do not think that the burger is not the best in New York City, I really liked the brunch at Montmartre. The service was very good and welcoming and the garden in the back is definitely a big asset.

I would not mind going back there, maybe for dinner in fact.

Enjoy (I did)!

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Bareburger in New York, NY

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As my cousin Sandrine was in New York, she could not leave without having a burger. This time, we proposed to go to Bareburger, at their location in Hell's Kitchen. I heard a lot about this place that serves organic meat, but never went before, so you can imagine my excitement. 

I was surprised to see that it was full table service, more used to the fast casual restaurants, where you order at the counter, get a number assigned to you and, they either yell that number when your order is ready or bring it to your table. No, at Bareburger, you can sit and relax. 

Decor wise, there is a play on words between bare and bear that translates not only on the walls, but also on their packaging. 

Menu wise, they have a large choice of dishes, whether appetizers, entrées or desserts. If you do not want a burger, they have a large choice of salads for instance. And, if you are vegetarian, they have a black bean patty or, again, salads. 

For burgers, you can either order one of their specialty ones or built your own. We went for the latter. 

To build your own, you pick the bun, the patty, the "bacon", the cheese, the toppings and the sauce. So, I had a beef patty on a brioche bread, with grilled onions, sautéed mushrooms, brisket as my "bacon", sharp cheddar cheese, ketchup and mayo. 

When it came to the table, it looked very appetizing. I always cut my burger into two so it is easier to grab and I immediately saw that the meat was perfectly cooked medium and juicy. The first bite was divine: the meat tasted like...meat, and had a delicious char created from the cooking process. The brisket, however, was just ok, a bit dry.

The brioche bread was also perfect: soft and not dry, that is important as you first bite on it.

Jodi ordered the black bean patty, multi grain roll, baby spinach, sautéed mushrooms and cheddar.

I tried it and it was decent (I prefer beef patties...).

Ok, I admit that I forgot what Sandrine had, focussing mainly on my dish....But it looked like this:

With our burgers, we got the onion ring and fries combo:

They were just ok and not as good as the parmesan panko crusted zucchini sticks:

This was a good meal and I love the build-your-own concept. Another great burger place to add to my list!

Enjoy (I did)!

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My trip to Europe: Greg and Jerry's Burger and Fries in Grenoble, France

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I am always curious to see how food is evolving in France, French cuisine being considered one of the best, and French people being very protective about it. Each time I go to France, I see a change: there are more and more fast food, whether it is kebab places (I saw one called "Batman Kebab"!), pizza with chains like Domino's or Pizza Hut, or fast food like MacDonald's, the latter being very popular with the younger crowd. I read recently that Burger King will make a comeback soon after more than a decade of absence, now that they see a profitable market, not anymore dominated by MacDonald's. KFC is also very popular there and plans to open many restaurants across the country. 

Another phenomenon I noticed in the past few years is the emergence of delivery: when I was living in Paris, it was only limited to pizza and paella. Now, more and more, I see delivery for sushi, pizza (I even saw a pizza ATM!) and burgers. 

In fact, I discovered Greg and Jerry's on a flyer at the hotel we were staying in. It is a burger place that serves ice cream from Ben & Jerry's, hence the name, that has been opened for more than six years, but relocated to that place two years ago. 

Very colorful with its red banquette and stools, they try to transport you to the heart of America; normal considering that they only serve burgers. Geared towards carnivores (no veggie burger there), they propose a nice selection of specialty burgers, some similar to the one we have here, like the classic cheese that we tried:

Others reinvented with a French twist, like the Best Mountain, made with reblochon cheese, bacon and potatoes, or the Parisian, made with emmental, chèvre (goat) and blue cheese, that we also tasted. 

The way it works is that you first order at the counter, and then, they will bring it to your table. 

When we opened the box, we were a bit disappointed by what we saw, the bread having a sad look. It is like a sourdough bread, that was a bit dry. In fact, the proportion bread / meat patty was unbalanced in favor of the bread. The meat was good and did not have this grey color that the burgers at MacDonald's had when I went there. But again, too much (dry) bread for the quantity of meat. 

The classic cheese had too much onions, salad and tomatoes, so I barely tasted the meat. However, we ordered the Parisian without lettuce and tomatoes and it was very good. They would use a better bread, this could be a killer sandwich. 

With our burgers, we ordered Idaho potato fries that were cooked skin on, cooked all the way through and deliciously crispy. 

They also had onion rings, that were good, but would have been even better if crispy. There, no special sauce besides mayo and ketchup. 

If you do not like burgers, you can try their chicken nuggets. 

I did try one: it was just ok. 

Full at the end, we did not try any ice cream, that anyway would not have been that original... I think Greg and Jerry's was a nice try and they could definitely beat MacDonald's that is few steps away if they were changing their bread, as well as the price: the menu for a burger, fries and a drink being priced at 12 Euros (more than $17), making it expensive for what it is. 

Greg & Jerry's

105, cours Jean Jaures

38000 Grenoble, France

www.gregandjerrys.fr

Enjoy (I did)!

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5 Napkin burger in Union Square, NYC

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Our friends from Denmark, Anne and Klaus came recently to visit New York with their kids Signe, Emile and Jonas. We spent some time with them and had to live up to our reputation of foodies (I hate that word). So we picked few places, some of them really representative of Americana. So, of course, we went for burgers. We had to take into account few things: first, there needed to be vegetarian options, Jonas being vegetarian. Second, there should be, a least, a classic cheeseburger. So we de facto eliminated Burger Joint and Umami Burger (although I still salivate like a Pavlov's dog when thinking about the truffle burger there). 

So, we picked 5 Napkin Burger. I went already to the original one in Hell's Kitchen, but never to the one in Union Square. No surprise there: the decor is similar, representing a slaughterhouse, the cleanliness indicating that it represents it after the slaughter. One cannot miss the hooks hanging

Or the multiple scales displayed all over the restaurant. 

If you have never been to 5 Napkin Burger, let me explain to you how it was born. It all started at Nice Matin, a French restaurant located on the Upper West Side. One of their most successful dish was a burger where the meat was so juicy that you needed five napkins for your hands. The owners of the restaurant Simon Oren and Andy D'Amico then got the idea to open a restaurant where their signature burger would be the star. Since then, it has been a success story, with few restaurants in the city, as well as in other cities. 

But do not imagine that the menu offers only burgers, as it's name could lead you to: they serve other dishes, including salads and...sushi! Interesting! Not sure I would think about ordering sushi there. 

The Kroners got their burgers, but, of course, we did too...Jodi ordered the classic cheese, an 8 oz. beef patty served with American cheese, onion, lettuce, tomato, pickles, on a sesame brioche bread. 

It was very good, the meat being juicy and very tasty, topped by a nice amount of cheese. 

But it did not measure up with the 5 Napkin burger that I ordered. 

The beef patty was literally smothered with Gruyere, caramelized onions and rosemary aioli. 

A bit messy for sure, but who cares? Certainly not me who needed more than 5 napkins to clean my hands, the juiciness of the meat adding to the delightful mess.

To go with the burger, I of course ordered a milk shake. Usually, I order a vanilla one, but I got tempted by a cookies and cream that had little pieces of oreo cookie in it.

Everything was fantastic there and it was the perfect introduction to the next few meals we planed for our friends! I certainly did not regret the choice of 5 Napkin Burger: this is definitely one of the best in the City!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Boardwalk Fresh Burgers and Fries in Hoboken, NJ

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There is a new burger place in town! Yes, Boardwalk Fresh Burgers and Fries opened a week ago, replacing Bombay West an Indian restaurant that closed. At first, I thought it was another place to celebrate the Jersey Shore, like the now defunct WindMill tried to. But in fact, it refers to the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland, where the owners, brothers Dave and Fran DiFerdinando use to go to get fresh hand cut fries that gave them the idea to open their first establishment, serving mainly French fries, cooked at different temperatures in peanut oil, giving them a nice taste and slight crunch, keeping the inside soft. But customers were asking for more and they decided to add burgers to the menu. Today, this franchise has locations in Georgia, California, Maryland, Texas...

And now a brand new location in Hoboken that, despite the Art and Craft Festival, attracted the crowd.

The way it works is that you order at the counter: you can either pick one of their signature burgers or build your own. They will then give you a number and bring your order at your table.

It came fairly quickly. First was my vanilla milkshake that I could not resist to order.

I admit that I hesitated between this one and the cookies and cream. I should have had the latter because the vanilla one missed some taste, probably because there was not enough vanilla syrup.

Then, Jodi ordered a patty (you pick between one and two), cheddar cheese, sautéed mushrooms and avocado.

On my side, I ordered a double patty with American cheese, grilled onions, sautéed mushrooms, ketchup and mayo.

We ordered one order of those delicious fries that were cooked skin on and delivered their promises. I wondered why the patties did not look perfect; it is because they are made with fresh ground meat (not frozen) and shaped every morning by hand. 

And these burgers delivered too! The buns that were like brioche were fantastic, the meat perfectly cooked medium, juicy, with a nice char on the outside, and with cheese oozing from between the patties. Definitely great burgers and I cannot wait to try some other combinations as well as their cheesesteaks! So, you guess: I'll be back!

Enjoy (I did)!



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