When you get one of the best high-end restaurants in the city to collaborate with an elite pitmaster, there’s a chance for some magic.
And in the case of the burger born of the ongoing weekend collab between Antler Room and Harp Barbecue, it was magic or bust.
“I think the three of us involved in that burger understood that if it wasn’t the best burger in the city, the chef wasn’t going to allow it on the menu again,” says Tyler Harp, the pitmaster behind Harp Barbecue.
He’s joking—probably, maybe, kinda, sorta—about the exacting standards of Antler Room chef-owner Nick Goellner. But, as it happens, the Burger Research & Development Team delivered on the challenge. This burger is the best thing we’ve eaten all pandemic long—and something we’d love to see stick around on somebody’s menu.
It starts with brisket, which is nice and fatty compared to other burgerable cuts. It’s ground and packed into a perfect patty, then smoked and flash-grilled to sear in the flavor.
The finished patty is topped with grilled onions, fry sauce and house pickles and sandwiched between a perfectly proportional sesame seed bun from a local bakery.
You can currently try the city’s best new burger as a carryout item on Fridays. Get a side of potato salad, and ask for a fork so you can smash it right there in your car.
