2010-04-09
The iconic staple of the American diet, the unassuming burger, is
enjoying a rebirth that has celebrity chefs, savvy entrepreneurs and
well-known chains capitalizing on consumers' seemingly insatiable appetite
for beef patties sandwiched between a bun.
For fine-dining chefs looking to beef up sluggish sales in a down
economy, it's the go-to menu item, dressed up with artisan cheeses, perhaps
a garlicky aioli and a smattering of wild truffles. Fast-food chains hoping
to wean customers off not-so-profitable dollar burgers have been introducing
pricier premium patties, and fast-casual restaurant operators are seeing big
bucks in customization of the burger.
When San Diego chef Olivier Bioteau decided it was time last fall to
remove his Meyer Ranch burger and fries from the menu of his French bistro,
the customers rebelled.
"People were really upset with us. Some people just come here for the
burger. It was really crazy," recalled Bioteau, owner of the Farmhouse Cafe.
He has since restored the burger, which he serves with a remoulade sauce.
"Originally, we had noticed every restaurant opening around us had a
hamburger on the menu, so we needed to have one. It's more affordable, and
it's also very versatile. When someone sees something popular and
profitable, everyone wants to try it and get some money off it. Maybe in a
year, it will be hot dogs."
Not likely.
The $100 billion-a-year burger market has been a welcome bright spot in
an otherwise dismal year for restaurants. While overall restaurant traffic
last year was down 3 percent compared with 2008's, servings of burgers,
which numbered 9.3 billion, were up 5 percent, according to the NPD Group, a
market research firm.
The growing appeal of burgers, especially for sophisticated palates, is
not lost on family-style chains like Denny's, which last year launched an
upgrade with its Better Burgers — grilled, hand-formed patties offered with
a variety of toppings. Fast-casual chains such as Smashburger and The
Counter are rapidly expanding, creating niches for diners looking for
something affordable but more inspired than drive-through fare.
Tom Yoo was so enamored with the build-your-own-burger concept adopted by
The Counter chain of burger joints that he decided to leave his lucrative
career in the financial industry and open a restaurant in Carlsbad, Calif.,
which debuted in December.
"We've been doing fantastic, breaking records," Yoo said. "In a time when
we're not doing well economy-wise, people are going back to what they can
trust is good, and burgers are at the heart of that. We feel like we're at
the forefront of that."
Burgers typically are a recession-proof restaurant staple, said NPD
analyst Bonnie Riggs, but "they're also a way of getting people into a
restaurant where you don't have to spend as much money." And while they can
sometimes still be somewhat pricey, they are nearly always less expensive
than typical entrees, she added.
Restaurateur Bertrand Hug, owner of Mille Fleurs in Rancho Santa Fe,
Calif., decided he needed a quick fix after he saw his nightly volumes
plummet as the economy tanked. He turned to the burger, which his chef glams
up with gourmet accouterments like Point Reyes blue cheese and caramelized
onions to satisfy epicurean tastes. To celebrate the restaurant's 25th
anniversary this month, he offered five burgers, paired with a glass of wine
or beer, for $25.
"It's partly an economic thing, but also, the burger is like a religion,"
said Hug, who also owns Bertrand at Mister A's in downtown San Diego. "I was
in college when I had my first burger in France, and I thought, 'Man, those
Americans, they've got it all figured out.' What it has done for me, it's
brought in an entirely new clientele."
Clearly, the burger makeover has proved a bonanza for celebrated chefs in
search of populist appeal, as well as fine-dining establishments trying to
shed their stuffy — read expensive — image. While burger offerings are up
across all segments of the restaurant industry, the biggest growth by far is
in the fine-dining category, where burger sales jumped more than 18 percent,
according to data research firm Datassential.
Renowned New York restaurateur Daniel Boulud, credited a decade ago with
the transformation of the downscale burger into a gourmet offering fit for
the pickiest of foodies, recalls the raves of his finger-licking customers
when he introduced the DB Burger, a decadent fusion of sirloin, red wine
braised short ribs and black truffles, served on a parmesan bun. But he
firmly believes that even the most gourmet of burgers do not belong in a
fine-dining establishment. His are reserved for his more casual bistros, not
his upscale restaurant, Daniel.
"People don't come to Daniel to get their hands greasy," said the
French-born chef. "They come to a nice restaurant to enjoy a special moment.
But when you go out for a burger, it's a spontaneous moment. It's a whole
approach to making ourselves affordable and casual but also very good."
Likewise, noted French chef Hubert Keller has upped his popularity
quotient with his successful Burger Bars, which focus on the finest of
ingredients and varieties of beef while allowing diners to customize their
own burgers with choices from 40 toppings. Rather than incorporate burgers
into his fine-dining restaurants, though, he believed premium patties
deserved a forum of their own.
"I think foodies were ashamed to go to a McDonald's and were probably
hiding when eating a burger. But now with a chef doing a burger, they didn't
have to hide anymore," said Keller, who has Burger Bars in San Francisco,
Las Vegas and St. Louis. "We started six years ago, and it was booming then,
and now we're deep in recession, and the Burger Bar is still booming. It's a
foolproof concept, but nobody could have known then."
Lori Weisberg writes about food for The San Diego Union-Tribune.
COPYRIGHT 2010 THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE.
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