Victoria Blamey calls the overwhelming success of her 86’d Burger “madness.” On a recent Sunday, she sold 43 burgers, and there were only 70 covers. “We wound up having to make more than I expected,” says Blamey, Executive Chef of Chumley’s – a former speakeasy. Pete Wells of The New York Times called the burger, “an erotic poem on the theme of fat.”
The burger stars two 4-oz. patties topped with a 1-oz. bone-marrow patty studded with dehydrated onion. Fried shallots, cheese and Chumley’s secret sauce finish the burger. “The dehydrated onion in the bone marrow is a play on raw onion that you would find on a typical burger,” she says. “The fried shallots add a sweetness and crunch. The mango, which is one of the ingredients in the secret sauce, provides acidity that would typically be found in a tomato. The overall flavor profile is fatty yumminess.”
She confesses that she doesn’t quite know why it’s such a hit. “But it’s a hit for sure. It’s our bestselling item—people love it,” says Blamey. The chef originally created the burger for herself—it’s what she wanted to eat. “Right now, I am thinking about the summer and what we can do to lighten this up a little bit—perhaps with a fried tomato.”
