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. To see the video, click here.

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.