review: superiority burger.

The New York dinning scene can sometimes feel like a dog with a cone on it's head.  When a restaurant is popular or the new "it" place or super cool, it is all you will read about it.  That place will appear on the blogs, it will pop-up in your Instagram, and you will feel as if you are missing out unless you visit said place right now.   

That's how I felt when I read about Superiority Burger the vegetarian/vegan 6 seat restaurant in the East Village run by Brooks Headley the former pastry chef at Del Posto.  His veggie burger has been given quite a lot of acclaim, some have even said it's the burger that could make you swear off meat. When something gets so much press and so much hype I get nervous to try it.  What if I don't think it's as good as everyone says?  Is there something wrong with me or is there something wrong with everyone else?

What I discovered is that everyone is on the same page when it comes to Superiority Burger.  This burger is awesome. Mind-blowingly awesome.  Probably one of the best things I've eaten in a long time kind of awesome. I don't know how it's made because I've had quinoa based veggie burgers before and this is nothing like any of them.  This is hefty, it's meaty, it's seared on the outside so it practically mimics the crust of a real burger.  It's magical and I want to eat it everyday.   I almost can because if you order one to go it tastes just as good the next as it does fresh (I would know because I purchased one to go).  A real burger can't do that.  

Did I mention there are also sides?  There are sides.  Seasonal sides that change based on the market. Whatever they are, order them because they will be good.  Right now there are things like green tomato and corn salad and fingerling potato coins with crushed potato chips (you can never go wrong with potato on potato). The charred broccoli salad seems to have a permanent spot on the menu and rightly so.  It's crunchy, spicy, and the perfect accouterment to a burger.  

And then there is dessert which I foolishly didn't order but was given on the house by the incredibly sweet Brooks Headley.  (I was too distracted by the burger to think about dessert which is shocking since I never forget about dessert.)  Since pastry is his forte it isn't surprising that the cream cheese gelato and apricot sorbet with graham crumbs was incredible.  Flavors rotate.  I don't think you could go wrong with any flavor.     

The hype around the burger is well deserved and too be honest it probably deserves more because it's doing something different and different should always be praised. If you go (and you better go), you will probably see me there, drinking an Arnold Palmer (one of the better one's I've had) and waiting for some burgers and sides.