Bobby Flay opens Burger Palace
BY ERICA MARCUS |
erica.marcus@newsday.com Bobby Flay is one of the country's culinary titans.
He headlines "Throwdown!" on the Food Network. He's also an Iron Chef. He operates five successful restaurants, sells a line of condiments, cookware and dishes, is the author of eight cookbooks. He's married to a gorgeous actress. He still has all his hair. What more could a guy want?
A burger joint on
Long Island.
Now, he gets one. At 11 a.m. on Tuesday, July 15, Bobby's Burger Palace will open on the southernmost edge of Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove. It is the achievement of a long-deferred goal.
Beef dreams are made of this
"Chefs have funny dreams," he said. "They may have a couple of four-star restaurants, but they fantasize about opening up a hotdog stand. A lot of them think that it's too late, that they're beyond that, but for me, it's the opposite: Now that I've gotten to this point, I can do the thing I crave the most - which is a cheeseburger, fries and a shake."
Flay has brought all his culinary chops to bear on the tasks at hand. The burgers are made of Certified Angus Beef, 80 percent lean. "Any less fat and you lose flavor," he said.
Bobby's Burger Palace (BBP for short) offers 10 burgers, each tricked out in style. Flay has a special fondness for the crunchburger, a classic American cheeseburger topped with potato chips. The Dallas burger, inspired by the way barbecued brisket is served in
Texas, is rubbed with spices before grilling, then topped with barbecue sauce (his own), coleslaw, Monterey Jack cheese and a pickle. The eponymous Bobby Blue Burger is topped with blue cheese, bacon, lettuce and tomato; the Napa Valley with goat cheese, watercress and Meyer lemon honey mustard. An unadorned cheeseburger is $6.50, the other nine are $7.50
But wait, there's more!
No less attention is lavished on the fries (crinkle-cut in an homage to the fries Flay ate during childhood summers on the boardwalk at Spring Lake, and served with a subtly spiced mayonnaise-based "fry sauce") or the shakes (made with Edy's ice cream and ranging from vanilla and chocolate to coconut, mango and cola). There are "griddled cheese" sandwiches, beer-battered onion rings, soda, beer, wine, frozen margaritas, and even a salad.
The 70-seat restaurant looks great, vibrant with Flay's guacamole-mango-red-pepper palate and dominated by a gleaming serpentine counter.
Bobby's Burger Palace
355 Smith Haven Mall
Lake Grove
631-382-9590
