LAKE GROVE N.Y. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
Flay and Kretchmer, who own and operate such upscale restaurants as Mesa Grill and Bar Americain in New York City, recently debuted the fast-casual Bobby’s Burger Palace, which the partners plan to expand nationally with the aid of a new $5 million financing deal. Located in suburban Lake Grove, the 74-seat prototype restaurant offers a moderately priced menu highlighting 10 signature burgers with regional accents. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
The high-end sector’s fascination with burgers has been growing over the last couple of years. New York chef Laurent Tourondel so far has opened two outlets of his BLT Burger in Manhattan and Las Vegas, while Hubert Keller has expanded his Burger Bar Las Vegas, which is said to generate annual sales of nearly $7 million, to the chef’s San Francisco home market. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack in New York, which features several burger variations along with hot dogs and shakes, would grow to two units when his Union Square Hospitality Group opens the downscale operation in the Mets’ new Citi Field ballpark in 2009. In addition, the Livanos Restaurant Group, which owns such Manhattan restaurants as Oceana and Molyvos, plans to open Burger Deluxe in Wayne, N.J., as a more burger-centric version of the Livanos group’s City Limits Diner in suburban White Plains, N.Y. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
In Los Angeles, chef Govind Armstrong has reconcepted his Table 8 into the 8 oz. Burger Bar, while Domaine Restaurants isplanning to clone 25 Degrees, its customizable-burger concept in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, at sites in Phoenix, Newport Beach, Calif., and Beijing. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
Also, the owners of the 10-month-old Burger Bar, a component of the Met Bar & Grill in the upscale Natick Collection luxury mall in suburban Boston, plan to open two additional burger outlets in the near future. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
Meanwhile, foodies nationwide continue blogging feverishly about chef Thomas Keller’s much-anticipated yet still-elusive down-market project in Napa Valley, Calif., called Burgers and Half-Bottles. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
The reason for this latest wave of “burgerfication” is simple, Kretchmer declared: “It’s the great American sandwich. Everybody loves burgers.” —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
Kretchmer also noted that hamburgers present a perfect canvas for Flay’s style of combining bold flavors. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
“Bobby’s doing things that nobody else is doing,” he asserted. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
The menu of Bobby’s Burger Palace, with BBP signatures priced from $6.50 to $7.50, includes such choices as the Santa Fe Burger, with queso sauce, roasted green chiles and blue-corn chips, and the Philadelphia Burger with provolone cheese, griddled onions and hot peppers. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
All burgers are prepared with Certified Angus Beef, 80-percent lean, and served on a soft potato roll. Customers have the option of substituting ground turkey or chicken breast for beef. For no extra charge, customers can “crunchify” their burger by having it topped with a variety of chips—a signature preparation of the restaurant. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
BBP’s menu also includes several sandwiches, side dishes, salads, milk shakes, wine by the glass, beer and frozen margaritas. Guests can customize their burgers with a variety of sauces, including chipotle ketchup, BBP burger sauce and jalapeño hot sauce. Fries also can be accompanied with BBP fry sauce, a blend of mayonnaise, roasted red and chipotle peppers, and spices. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
After two days of operation, Bobby’s Burger Palace was running an average per-person check between $12 and $14, although Kretchmer said alcohol consumption could affect the average. He estimated that annual sales would be “plus or minus $3 million.” —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
On its second day of operations, Bobby’s Burger Palace served 950 guests, he said. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
The weeks-old BBP encompasses about 4,000 square feet of space located on the southern edge of the heavily trafficked Smith Haven Mall. Designed by the Rockwell Group, the restaurant features a central serpentine, resin-coated dining counter. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
BBP also features a fast-casual style of service, where customers place their orders at the central counter and the plated items are then delivered to their tables. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
Kretchmer said he and Flay intend to open a second unit in Monmouth County, N.J., later this year and a third outlet somewhere else six months later. During the second year, the partners hope to open five more locations. Initially all outlets will be located in high-traffic areas within a two-hour drive of Manhattan, allowing for easy access. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
BBP’s growth is being funded with a $5 million loan from GE Capital Solutions. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
“This has a lot to do with our desire to get our product out to a lot more people,” Kretchmer said. “A very small percentage of the dining public gets to eat at the Mesa Grill. We want to broaden our geographical accessibility while creating a more accessible price point.” —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
Flay—who appears on such TV shows as “Iron Chef America,” “Throwdown!” and “Grill It!”—owns and operates such high-end restaurants with Kretchmer as Mesa Grill in New York, Las Vegas and the Bahamas.; Bar Americain in New York; and Bobby Flay Steak in Atlantic City, N.J. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
Bop Lape, restaurant critic for Crain’s New York Business and WCBS radio, has observed that the soft economy makes this a good time for Flay to “come in with a dining option that doesn’t cost so much.” Said Lape: “It sounds like this will be Bobby on a budget.” —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
Todd Winer, executive chef of Metropolitan Club and the Met Bar & Grill, agreed that fewer people are dining at high-end restaurants. “On the other hand, upscale-casual places are being bombarded with people,” he said, noting that is Burger Bar is full every day. —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.
“From a restaurant standpoint, it’s low labor, low maintenance and provides for a decent turnaround,” he said. “You’re in and out in 40 minutes. And everybody loves a burger. Everybody grew up with it. Everybody understands it. It’s as American as apple pie.” —Celebrity chef-restaurateur Bobby Flay and business partner Laurence Kretchmer have joined the growing ranks of high-end culinarians and operators who have rediscovered America’s abiding love affair with the iconic hamburger.