Want to lure in customers, or readers? Just throw up a photo of a big ol’ burger! According to an excited sign in the window, the original Ray’s pizzeria (which, despite having been in business for 50 years this year, doesn’t get nearly the sort of traffic Lombardi’s does a couple of blocks away) has added a burger to the menu. Meanwhile, Saveur’s latest issue is centered around a “Burger Bible” (not to be confused with our Burger Register) that celebrates “the greatest of American culinary inventions.” Of course, there’s a mini-profile of Pat LaFrieda (who is now said to provide custom blends to no fewer than 50 restaurants, mostly in New York), a profile of the Sheep Station’s Aussie burger (including recipe), a history of the “21” Club burger (the first one was introduced in 1950, costing a then-staggering $2.50, and patrons were none to pleased when new chef-owners Alain Sailhac and Anne Rozenzweig “improved” it by adding a pat of herb butter inside the patty in 1986. Two years later, Michael Lomonaco began serving the burger open-faced atop a grilled bruschetta, and the recipe for today’s burger can be found here).
