Rob Fussey, director of urban concept development, says this helps out the multi-lingual consumer who would rather point at a menu item in front of them. Self order kiosks located at the front of the store help time-pressed customers by allowing them to order precisely what they want (including special instructions like extra pickles), and bypass the order line altogether. So far, six of the urban centres are operating, with four in Vancouver, one in Calgary and one in Toronto. Another will be opening in May in Montreal at Concordia University.
And while the mainstream operators continue to sell millions, smaller neighbourhood restaurants are up-selling the homegrown burger with a price tag to match. In the trendy Lower Mount Royal district of Calgary, Classic Jack’s Restaurant & Gastro Lounge burger epiphany started with the decision to switch from frozen patties to fresh beef. “We were getting a lot of complaints about our burgers, so we decided it would be easier to just make our own. After a lot of experimentation, we finally found the right balance of ingredients and beef, and we definitely noticed there is a higher demand for our fresh burgers,” says Shaun Nagaiya, morning sous chef at Classic Jack’s. Far from just a plain fresh meat patty, the kitchen starts with organic beef from Spraggs Meat Shop, based in Rosemary, Alta. Burger ingredients include caramelized onion, house made barbeque sauce, breadcrumbs, eggs and of course, a couple of secret ingredients. Toppings can include triple smoked bacon, Applewood Smoked Cheddar, more caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms.
In addition to changing up the basic burger, the kitchen has also played around with different buns. Nagaiya says “we used to use a semolina bun, but we’ve now switched to a plainer bun with a consistent burger taste, sweet, with a slight chewiness to it. But we’re changing our menu in the fall, so we’re talking to our bakers right now, because we want to bring in a pretzel bun. It would bring a whole different dimension to our burgers.” Currently, there are three burgers on the menu, and for variety, on Vinburger Wednesdays, the house offers up a burger and bottle of wine combo for $30. “On Wednesdays we come up with a couple of special burgers, with different toppings to give our customers more variety,” adds Nagaiya. The kitchen typically goes through upwards of 80 fresh made burgers a day, more on Wednesdays. And at $14 each, that’s not chicken feed.
At the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Show in Toronto this March, Darren Tristano, executive vice-president of Technomic, Inc., spoke to menu strategies and trends in the coming year for foodservice. Not surprisingly, building a better burger was one of those strategies, based on consumer cravings for the familiar, but with a couple of twists. Tristano told the crowd about his own experience with the ultimate comfort food from Friendly’s – the Grilled Cheese Burger Melt, a hamburger patty served between two grilled cheese sandwiches.
He also noted that high-end Morton’s Steak House was serving up a $20 prime sirloin burger, and that Smashburger, a fast casual burger chain in the States, had experienced 116 per cent sales growth in 2010. Not long after the show, Technomics reported that Five Guys Burgers and Fries was the fastest growing fresh burger chain in 2010 with a 35 per cent increase in sales for estimated revenue of $625 million with a 35 per cent growth in units. The chain has been Zagat rated since 2001, and has opened 13 locations across Canada since 2009. Five Guys plans to have 150 to 200 more locations in Canada within 10 to 15 years, says Molly Catalano, director of communications and public relations.
Betwixt the QSR chains and the $35 luxe eponymous Bymark Burger, from Mark McEwan’s restaurant in Toronto, with its hand chopped Prime USDA strip loin with accents of brie de Meaux and truffle aioli, are the independents who, recognizing a niche, are filling it. Tim Pater opened up Harper’s Burger Bar late last year in Kingston, Ont. Pater explained that the idea had been in the back of his mind for five or six years, but with two other restaurants to operate, he just didn’t have the time to devote to the concept.
Pater notes that successful operators are taking burgers to a new level with good fresh ingredients, coupled with interesting toppings. “I think the interest in burgers got spurred on by the economic crash. People still want to go out to eat and think ‘I can pay for a gourmet burger, rather than a $30 steak.’ Beyond that, burgers are just one of those comfort foods that people just crave and more restaurateurs are realizing that and offering different twists on the burger experience.”
For his customers, Pater serves local beef, naturally and sustainably raised, antibiotic and hormone free from Enright Cattle Company in Tweed, Ont. Artisanal cheese such as Light Hall Tomme goat cheese from Fifth Town Cheese Company, in Prince Edward County, Ont., and Barely Blue from Glengarry Fine Cheese from Lancaster, Ont., ooze from underneath Ace Bakery buns.
Pater says there is a broad appeal for the Burger Bar. “One of the nicest comments I get is from older clientele that say ‘this brings me back to my youth.’” He adds the fact that Kingston is a university town helps with bringing in the younger crowd, “as the price points are right.”
Work on the menu took a lot of research, with the requisite trial and error, Pater laughs, and adds “I probably did about 300 revisions. We wanted to make burgers that make culinary sense, with good flavour profiles, not just wacky ingredients that don’t make sense from a culinary standpoint.” A case in point is the Umami burger with brie, balsamic candied onions, soya glazed mushrooms, and white truffle aioli. The Bahn-Mi burger features pickled Asian vegetables, basil, mint, cilantro, and Thai coconut-red curry sauce. A homemade tomato jam on the Deluxe burger adds the right amount of tang.
Beyond the basic beef burger, Harper’s offers a turkey burger, a whole chicken breast burger, a wild salmon, a vegan and a vegetarian choice. On the weekends, features include burgers made from specialty meats from local area farms, such a lamb, pork or boar.
Editor’s note: the above picture of the Ultimate Goat Cheese burger is courtesy of Woolwich Dairy Inc. For the recipe for this burger please click here.
