Pat LaFrieda

Editor’s note: If there’s such a thing as a celebrity butcher, Pat LaFrieda, whose name is on more great menus than Benedict and his eggs, is it. (Ever heard of the Black Label burger?). LaFrieda gushes about the bite that made his family business famous. Want to try his bespoke blend? He is now serving his burger in Time Out Market New York. I’ll take a burger over a steak any day. Everything, from the beef to the bun, is just amazing. It’s America’s comfort food. My first burger memories are of my dad grilling in the backyard in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. We couldn’t wait for him to get home. He would make us four-ounce doubles—for a 10-year-old, that’s gigantic—always with American cheese. I think that’s as sophisticated as we were then; that’s all we knew at the time. Being in that part of Brooklyn, you didn’t get hamburger buns from the supermarket. We used Italian sesame-seed bread from the corner bakery. Burgers were a real big delight. I love a nice crust sear. My favorite burger is something that’s thick yet still medium-rare—that’s the only way you can taste all the love and passion that went into it. A burger will taste like it smells, and that aroma of beef and the sweet scent of corn, which our steers are finished on, would be lost if it were cooked well-done. “In New York City, we have the strongest demand for quality and the least tolerance for anything that’s not amazing.” Black Label burger at Minetta TavernPhotograph: Courtesy Minetta Tavern/Emilie Baltz Beef is