Forking Tasty

BRGR Is Not A Txt Acronym

BRGR is a burger joint that has been popping up all around NYC. I just happen to work near BRGR and one day for lunch I headed out to fill my hunger. BRGR has the open viewable grill. That means when you go into BRGR you leave smelling like BRGR. All grass fed meat with a choice of bun, I went whole wheat, but they even have the Iceberg lettuce bun for you carb watchers or gluten free eaters…

Above Standard

A very good choice for a burger would be at Clarke Standard. One of the things that makes them a little different is the grilled buttered bun. I’m a huge fan of that and it is starting to catch on at other burger shops. The other great thing about Clarke Standard is around the block from my job. I have a feeling this will be on my list whenever I head out for lunch. This burger is in the same burger class as a Shake Shack burger. Clarke Standard use only 100% USDA verified, hormone and antibiotic free Natural Angus ground every day using a wide-gauge plate for a loose-textured patty and a juicier, more flavorful burger. Check out the juices for yourself.

The New And The Old

The best burger in New York is a huge debate. It fluctuates from year to year and their are different classes when it comes to burgers. There are the tasty burgers that are small and a leap up from fast food restaurants like Shack Shack or the Burger Joint in the Parker Meridian. Both are top in it’s class. Another class of burger are the thicker burger that are cooked to order. This post is about an old best of the best and a new burger that is top 5 in the city.

The Festival Combo

Many small towns have festivals throughout the year. When you think of fair foods you think of sausage, gyros, hotdogs, burgers, popcorn, fried chicken, zeppolies, candied apples, etc. This year I went to my hometown’s oyster feast in Oyster Bay Long Island. They have a HUGE food section that seems to grow every year and they go a little beyond the typical fair food. After all it is the Oyster fest, there is a ton of sea food, raw and cooked, and contests for eating the most oysters. There was so much good food and I usually will eat something then go to the next booth and then to the next booth. I usually eat the same thing each year. The past two years I have discovered something. Combining two stands could make something glorious.

Sauce Makes Me Happy

I have been working a lot of long hours lately promoting the New Windows 8 in Times Square and toward the end of the event the southerner and I found some time to go to an Italian restaurant in Astoria called Via Trenta. We have passed by it a hundred times and always say “We need to go there”. We finally did it. I was starving, I mean starving. I think I had a bowel of cheerios that morning and it was about 8pm when we sat in the restaurant. After looking over the menu I wanted 2 mains. The Gnocchi di BarBaBietola al GorGonzola which is handmade potato-beet gnocchi, in a gorgonzola- walnut sauce (I’m a sucker for walnut sauce) and the Veal in a a truffle cream sauce. On a typical day I’d get both and over eat myself into a food coma but something told me to just get one so I ordered the Veal.

Giant Meat

Two days ago the Giants lost their season opener to the Dallas Cowboys. An unfortunate start to the season and a topic I know little about. The fortunate part of the day was the play by play meat fest that came across my iPhone as the two fools below tailgated them selves into a protein and bacon maple beer stupor. I’ve know Dave and Ian for a solid 20 years now. Of the many adventures we’ve had, this is one…

Porchetta Practice

This past weekend turned into a full on assault of the market, the kitchen and the stomach. The highlight was definitely the pig. Knowing I had 20ish people stopping by on Saturday afternoon I spent Friday afternoon procuring one of the finest and most delicately butchered pieces of meat you can buy.

In Italian porchetta refers to a whole pig that is deboned, stuffed with herbs, rolled and tied and then slow roasted for hours. Street vendors slice off sections of it and put it in panini. Restaurants cut thick cross sections and serve it as an entree. In Rome you can’t walk two blocks without seeing a vendor.

We were not going to roast a whole stuffed pig BUT…

BBQ Brunch

It is not that easy to find BBQ in Astoria but there is one place that I know of that serves only BBQ in this area, Butcher Bar. This BBQ restaurant is not only a good place to get your BBQ but it also sells meat like a butcher. They have a display case showing all there organic grass fed meats, sausage, and beef patties that are raised locally.

Fanatico Fan

The other day I headed to Long Island for an over night stay at the parents house. I had a few things to do and I had not been to their house in a while. Whenever I go home during the summer my mother and I take the day to run some errands and go to lunch, a little mom and Ant time. We went to Fanatico for a couple salads. We were thinking of keeping it light and healthy and their salads are really good and filling. However, the healthy thing went out the window when my mother brought up the Chicken Marsala Roll. Mom said it was great but I wanted to keep it healthy….. I caved very easily.
It was really good and I could not finish it all because of the big salad. I should have started with the Chicken Marsala Roll. The taste was delicious and had the right amount of chicken and sauce. Pizzeria’s should make these. They make chicken parm rolls.

I Want To Join A Burger Club… This Burger Club?

The Southerner and I had a tough morning trying to figure out the perfect place for a Brunch/Lunch. The first place we thought of was to far away, the next place was BYOB, the next place was cash only, ugh! We decided to head to Il Bambino which you may remember from our Wich Hunt episode 2. We finally both agreed and were off and we were starving. Then all of a sudden on our way to lunch we hit a street fair….