Pittsburgh Restaurant's Burger Wins National Award

PITTSBURGH, PA - A Lawrenceville restaurant has won a prestigious national award for one of its burgers. The James Beard Foundation announced Tuesday that Burgh’ers is one of five winners in its fourth annual Blended Burger Project competition, which features chefs from all restaurant categories developing their take on a mushroom and meat blended burger.

Burgh’ers won for the Fox Chapel blended burger, which consists of a 75-25 blend of local grass-fed beef to local roasted mixed mushrooms topped with goat cheese, pickled red onion, avocado, spring mix and a balsamic glaze.

More than 350 eateries competed in the event, which saw more than 250,000 consumer votes cast over the summer. Three celebrity jurists judged the 20 burgers that received the most votes: Andrew Zimmern, James Beard Award-winning TV personality; Susan Westmoreland, Culinary Director of Good Housekeeping; and Antoinette Bruno, editor of StarChefs.

“We were thrilled at the wide array of creative recipes and types of eateries that took part in this year’s competition,” Kris Moon, James Beard Foundation chief operating officer, said in a statement. “Adding fresh, chopped mushrooms to the burger patty makes the traditional burger much more flavorful and sustainable – a change James Beard Foundation stands behind. We congratulate the winners and are grateful for all restaurants and chefs that took part.”

In addition to Burgh’ers, the other winners were:

• The Bearded Chef, Palm Bay, FL: The Thai My-Shroom is an umami bomb Thai burger made from Florida-grown Monterey Mushrooms blended with beef and pork, spiked with ginger, lemongrass, cilantro, and birds eye chili, with a spicy Thai ketchup, pickled enoki mayo with mushroom cured egg yolks and smoked maitake bacon on a toasted mushroom dusted brioche.

• Courtyard Cafe at Raymond James, St. Petersburg, FL: Smokey Mushroom Venison Blended Burger consists of a blend of farm-raised New Zealand venison, angus beef and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, chargrilled, seasoned with Alder-smoked sea salt, cracked pepper and porcini mushroom powder placed on a sourdough pretzel roll with beet ketchup and topped with melted smoked Tilamook cheddar and wild ramp béarnaise. Served with crispy carrot and parsnip fries.

• Curb Side Bistro, Odessa, TX: El Tejano Borracho (The Drunken Texan) consists of 70/30 blend of ground beef and a blend of mushrooms, including shiitake, white button and portabella, topped with pulled pork, tangy barbecue sauce, jalapeno and mushroom corn fritter, cilantro ranch, pickled red onions and a mushroom white queso cheese sauce all sandwiched between toasted brioche buns.

• Toltec Brewing, Albuquerque, NM: New Mexico brisket and roasted crimini patty topped with aged white cheddar, Young Guns New Mexico green chile, herb and ancho mayo, applewood bacon, local fried egg, heirloom tomato on a jalapeno brioche bun.

The winning restaurants will cook their blended burgers at the historic James Beard House in New York City in October.

Photo via James Beard Foundation.

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