A Royale MessA doorman is accused of spending too much time behind closed doors.
ByKara Baskin
In the Magazine
Two More on the Burger Bandwagon; Hardly Any Space for BunsA blizzard of burger openings has recently hit the city: BLT Burger, Royale, the new Goodburger, and Fort Greene’s 67 Burger. And there are more on the way: Heritage Burger, the concept for which we recently sketched out, and the still-secret chef-driven East Village place that we announced in late October. This week, Rob and Robin introduce two more newbies — Stand and the convenient-to-text-message brgr — breaking them down by beef, bun, and condiments. It’s all practically enough to make you forget the name Shake Shack.
Burger Madness [NYM]
The Other Critics
Bruni Comments on Nice Buns; Dirty Bird for Crazies?This week the fork-and-penners visited four joints where the primo grub made up for the less-than-stellar service and atmosphere.
• Bruni doles out judicious three stars to Joël Robuchon, noting that the chef’s foie gras–and–Kobe beef slider (“the haute burger of the new millennium”) has nice buns. [NYT]
• Meanwhile, Bruni’s colleague Peter Meehan thinks he’s discovered “the city’s best new hamburger” at Royale, a nondescript bar on Avenue C. [NYT]
• After some throat-clearing that involves the mention of “a sex act you don’t want to know about,” Lauren Collins states in no uncertain terms that “you’d be crazy to want to eat” at Dirty Bird. But you should definitely get a mess of the spicy, succulent legs delivered. [NYer]
• Andrea Strong misses the “amazing haze of really good energy” at the old, smallish Tasting Room but finds redemption in “a creamy haze” of sweet potatoes. [Strong Buzz]
