The event formerly known as the Burger Bloodbath went down at the Montauk Yacht Club over the weekend, with several big-name NYC chefs offering their own LaFrieda burger spins. Alex Stupak and wife Lauren Resler of Empellón served a torta-like concoction spread with beans and oozing chorizo from a soft roll — a favorite of ours, though the couple didn’t make the top three. We also liked Fatty ‘Cue–ster Zak Pelaccio’s lamb patty with bourbon-barreled Worchestershire and fresh peppers from his garden, but judges including Kate Krader, Lee Schrager, Pat LaFrieda, Josh Capon (who’s evidently done cleansing), and Spike Mendelsohn didn’t choose that one either.
Instead, last year’s winner, Jesse Gerstein (a Baltz PR employee and one of the competition’s few amateurs), placed third with his well-loved summery “beach burger”; Harold Moore of Commerce came in second with a classic cheeseburger; and Seamus Mullen took home the Amstel Light–branded trophy for his unusual hamburguesa ligermente ahumada, in which every ingredient (down to the flour for the bun) was smoked in Tertulia’s wood-burning oven. (Alas, nobody made their own American cheese this year.) Mullen’s win means he’s headed to the New York City Wine & Food Festival’s Burger Bash in October — big congrats.
