The Lionel Lévy BurgerMonday Pop-Up Question

Lionel Lévy, the Michelin-starred chef at Une Table, au Sud in Marseille, loves to revisit the classics. The protégé of Gérard Garrigues and Alain Ducasse has made a name for himself with his bouillabaisse milkshake and other signature (re)inventions. He added another to his repertoire as guest chef at my BurgerMonday pop-up on the 23rd of May at Andrew’s Gray’s Inn greasy spoon in London. He merged two American standards, the burger and the BLT sandwich, replacing their customary condiments with the Provençal accessories he prepared at his restaurant, packed in sous-vide bags and stashed with ice packs inside his hand luggage for the flight from Marseille to London.

When just 15 minutes before service Lévy showed me the very first version ever of his stunning pop-up burger BLT I was startled. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, or how to eat it. As you can see in the video above many diners had the same initial reaction, if varied answers to the question: Which end is ‘wich?

#BurgerMondayPopUp: The Movie

BurgerMondayPopUp Co-Chef James Lowe Seeks Shitload of Fat at O’Shea’s Butchers



To source a generously fatty blend of the finest, private reserve 100% Perthshire Black Angus Beef for the BurgerMondayPopup presented by young&foodish in London on 24 January, James Lowe, the chef at St John Bread & Wine, consulted with butcher Darragh O’Shea at his shop in Knightsbridge.

Hawksmoor Kimchi Burger: The Good & The Gross

After yielding to the decree requiring all London residents and vistors, regardless of birth, subject themselves to the Hawksmoor kimchi burger experience my twitter friend Charlie Almond responded with incredulity:

Oh God no! Have you tried it. It’s gross! [Read more...]

The Irrashonal Burger: Bacon Patty in Place of Rashers

the meatwagon, londonIf you’ve caught up with London’s The Meatwagon you may have noticed something different riding on its bacon cheeseburgers. In place of bacon rashers (strips) Yianni Papoutsis piggybacks his beef burgers with a griddle-fried patty of chopped boiled bacon. [Read more...]

The Colour of Rare According to John Torode

the luxe hamburger

A burger ordered rare at John Torode's The Luxe

JUDGING THE JUDGE: Food enthusiasts attending the burgermonday meatup at The Luxe got the opportunity to taste and critique the burger of chef-patron – and MasterChef judge – John Torode. [Read more...]

John Torode’s Burger Buns Like Meat in My Hands

Invited by MasterChef‘s John Torode to try the house burger at his new bar and grill on behalf of burgermonday I sunk into this two-hander with hope and hunger. The LUXE burger proved to be an irresistible hunk oozing beefy, cheesy, yolky juices with every bite. Lucious and lushish!

The only bummer was the bun. [Read more...]

BurgerMonday doubles up for El Doble

No one has to sign up for a BurgerMonday meatup to have a burger at any of its host restaurants. That’s why at every BurgerMonday I offer an event sweetener or two not available to the general public.  For the two sold-out sittings of El Doble Night, a celebration of the double cheeseburger at Byron on 24 May, everyone got to spoon youngandfoodish El Doble sauce on their DCB as well as take home a jar of that homemade Basque-style condiment.

I’d like to think my sauce was responsible for this meatup’s success. But in the end it is the shared experience, more than the exclusive extras, that make BurgerMondays truly special. The buzz is in the numbers, the rows of burgers on two sides of long tables, the community of focused food enthusiasts who come together for a single purpose or, in the exceptional case of El Doble Night, a double purpose.

The next BurgerMonday, VCBC Night, is 7 June at Bob Bob Ricard in London’s Soho.