Bring On the Fat, Bring On the Taste
Wall Street Journal, Nov. 17, Business, By KATY MCLAUGHLIN
Celebrity chefs have slaved in haute cuisine kitchens and mastered the world's most complex dishes. Today, they're dedicating their culinary brain power to another challenge: How to cash in on the burger craze.
Chefs such as French-trained Hubert Keller, all-American Bobby Flay and television star Emeril Lagasse are devoting their expertise to the once-humble hamburger. The rapidly growing pack of burger chefs is sparking fierce competition to expand, protect innovations and promote their recipes as the world's best.
Most of the chefs make a big deal about the kind of meat served at their restaurants. Mr. Lagasse blends ground chuck, short rib and brisket; others promote their Angus, Kobe or grass-fed beef. Some beef experts say the main secret behind tasty celebrity-chef burgers is simple: They pile on the fat, whether from beef patties with 30% fat content or from patties basted in butter. That alone may make their burgers delicious at a time when supermarket ground beef may contain as little as 8% fat.
The craze for celebrity burgers ignited in 2003 when Mr. Keller, the chef behind San Francisco's haute cuisine Fleur de Lys, needed an idea he could launch quickly in a vacant space that had become available in Las Vegas. He launched Burger Bar in 2004.
"I didn't know it would become a huge home run," Mr. Keller says. Instead of the 9% to 12% margins of his fine dining restaurants, Mr. Keller says he pulls down a 35% margin on annual sales of $7.5 million at Burger Bar in Las Vegas.
Cooking Tip: Get a griddle very hot, about 375 degrees, and sear the patty, then reduce heat to cook through
Few celebrity chefs spend their days flipping burgers or working the fry-o-later. Instead, they design the concept, conceive the recipes, train the staff and check in regularly to maintain quality. Mr. Blais and Mr. Flay have staffed the top positions of their burger restaurants with cooks from their fine-dining operations.
The most expensive celebrity burger is usually a "Kobe" burger. Most menus specify that the beef used comes from American Wagyu cattle, a breed famous for its highly-marbled meat, meaning thin veins of fat run throughout the muscle, adding juiciness.
Beef experts are divided on the merit of Kobe burgers. Kobe beef contains fatty acids that give it a distinct taste and have a healthier profile than the fats in typical American beef, says Chris Kerth, professor of meat science at Texas A & M University. But the taste difference between ground Kobe and ground beef with an equally high fat content is so subtle, consumers probably can't notice it, says Edgar Chambers IV, Kansas State University professor of food science.
Mr. Blais, who serves a Kobe burger, agrees that the unique marbling is lost in a hamburger but says Kobe beef is still a good choice for people who love a burger with abundant, tasty fat. His $39 Japanese Kobe burger consists of about 30% fat.
Chefs have their own special blends of beef cuts, such as short rib, sirloin or brisket.
"You're creating a story and people love to hear stories," says Mr. Keller, who uses ground chuck. Mr. Blais says his blend, which includes hangar steak, is the result of much research and study, including meals at rival Burger Bar, BLT Burger, Shake Shack and Five Guys.
"You get kind of tired of burgers after so much R & D," Mr. Blais says. There's minimal scientific research to guide them into the flavor differences among various meat cuts when ground.
"Grass fed" beef shows up in celebrity burgers—and often costs a little extra. Grass-fed beef contains healthier fats than typical grain-fed beef and is trendy in food circles partly because of a reputation for being better for the environment (although that is a question subject to scientific debate).
Mr. Tourondel says his grass-fed burger is a big hit but he personally doesn't like it. "Too lean, too dry," says the chef, who ordinarily smears softened butter onto his burger patties before cooking.
Write to Katy McLaughlin at katy.mclaughlin@wsj.com
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