America's Most Expensive Hamburgers Scouring the nation in search of burger perfection
By Neal Ungerleider
Burger Double Truffle: $150
© DB Bistro Moderne
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On May 26, millions of Americans celebrated Memorial Day with backyard barbecues. While most of our grills were filled with the usual Grade-A meat from local butchers and supermarkets, dozens of restaurants across the country served Kobe-beef burgers topped not with ketchup and mustard, but truffles and foie gras. The price tags on these wallet-busting burgers can reach $175.
According to Adam Kuban of Seriouseats.com, the appeal of the luxury hamburger is that it democratizes status symbol foods. “Most people don't get to say they've tried the best or most expensive truffles, caviar or wine,” he says. “But a $40 burger is arguably within reach of mere mortals. It's a chance to try the ‘ultimate’ example of something edible, and because it's a burger — well, who doesn't want to eat the ultimate burger?”
In Pictures: America's Most Expensive Hamburgers
High-end burgers have been around for years (the $17.50 caviarburger at Serendipity 3 in
New York City, for instance) but there’s one chef to thank for the new trend: Daniel Boulud. In 2001, the French chef introduced a $27 hamburger stuffed with short ribs, foie gras and truffles at New York’s DB Bistro Moderne. A few months later, the Olde Homestead Steakhouse debuted a $41 Kobe beef burger; several other New York restaurants then followed suit, unveiling high-end burgers of their own.
Some of them didn’t last. For a time, Le Cirque was offering $24 mini-hamburgers, popularly known as “sliders;” Laurent Tourondel’s BLT Burger sold a $62 burger made from five ounces of beef. For whatever reasons, both restaurants have since taken them off the menu.
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